Real Magic
by Sammy-U
Summary: Did you ever wonder what happened to Fred after he walked into a certain paper shop to meet a certain pretty girl? Read and find out how Fred falls for Jo, a Muggle craving for adventure, and their adventures together in the 2nd Wizarding War! - pls R&R!
1. The Village

**Real Magic**

_**Any characters from the original Harry Potter series all belong to JK Rowling. I only take claim of Jo, Miller and any other characters I create.**_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

**The Village**

**Fred**

Snow was thick on the frozen ground around the Burrow. Fred and George were leaving a pair of footprints as they trod towards the fence marking the Weasley's territory.

Fred thought back to what George had been telling Harry and Ron.

'…We're off to the village, there's a very pretty girl working in the paper shop who thinks my card tricks are something marvelous… almost like real magic…'

At first Fred had been weary of performing magic in front of Muggles, especially since their family was already labeled "blood-traitors." But the girl in the shop didn't seem to suspect too much of George's trick, though she had no idea how he pulled it off. Fred's apprehensiveness disappeared as he and his twin disapparated and reappeared at the local Muggle village.

The village was festooned with colorful lights and wreaths around every door. Everyone was bustling about, wearing jumpers and scarves and gloves. They walked along, greeting some shoppers, who returned the waves with smiles and shouts of "Happy Christmas!" At last, after about a five minute walk, they came to an old shop, which, by the looks of it hadn't been used for decades.

Fred went up to the door and knocked.

'Come in,' said a tired voice. There was the sound of last minute scribbling with a quill and then a chair being scraped back. The door was opened by an elderly wizard dressed in completely Muggle clothes.

'Good morning Miller,' said Fred cheerily.

'What do you want, Weasley….s?' replied Miller.

'Some Muggle money to go shopping in the village,' George answered.

They exchanged 10 Galleons for a stack of Muggle bills. Business was booming at their store in Diagon Alley. Even the Ministry was purchasing their products.

'Cheers, Miller! Happy Christmas!' Fred smiled.

They explored the heavily decorated stores and stopped at a small maintenance shop to buy their father a new set of plugs. Fred was getting a bit bored and was eager to talk to the girl at the paper shop again. She had the prettiest smile he'd ever seen...he hoped to make another one appear on her face that day.

'So, shall we head to the paper shop?' asked Fred tapping his toes.

'Yeah, I suppose…but you seem in a rush to go there,' George added with a sly grin.

'Is that so? If I recall correctly, you were the one to mention the "very pretty girl" earlier,' Fred shot back.

'Oh come off it, Fred! Anyway, what tricks shall we show off today?'

'I was thinking some of the miniature fireworks that we created,' said Fred thoughtfully.

'Well, as long as it's not fancy.'

'It won't be.'

'Hey Fred...about the magic...how about we show her a bit of our _charm_?' said George teasingly.

'Shut up George.'

Fred pushed the door open and the twins entered the shop.

**Jo**

Josephina Renee Auclair worked part time in the local paper store. She was seventeen years turning eighteen the next April. Her black hair was growing unchecked past her waist and her features showed there was some Hispanic blood in her. The temperature of the shop was about the same as it was outside: freezing cold. She had every piece of warm clothing on her, and even pinned her braid up on her head to keep in heat.

The day before yesterday, two identical red heads had entered the store. She was the only one in it because the store was closed during the holidays but she needed the money. They showed her some of the most extraordinary card tricks she'd ever seen and she wondered how it was possible without…well…magic.

When she looked up from her notebook in which she was looking over orders she saw the twins heading towards her store again. They were both sporting jumpers, one with an F and one with a G. Fred and George. They had introduced themselves like salesmen that day, but she couldn't recall telling them her name. She didn't want to make anything up, but she was sure that Fred kept staring at her whenever she smiled.

Shaking her head to get rid of her stupid thought, she looked back down at her notebook, but she was just waiting for the tinkling of the bell which meant the door was being opened. Soon enough, the noise of the bell and of shuffling feet made her lift her head from her book. Jo looked up to see the twins wearing the exact same smiles.

'You're back,' Jo smiled. Fred stared. 'Have a seat!'

'We're back,' replied Fred, blinking as though he just woke up. "Do you have any tea, or something to keep this infernal cold out?'

'I made some fresh cocoa for anyone who wants some,' Jo said turning away to pour it into three mugs. 'Careful – it's boiling hot.'

Jo fingers seared as she quickly thrust the cups into their hands.

"Thanks," they chorused as Jo nursed her burning fingers in a pile of snow. Steam seemed to rise uncannily fast from the mugs themselves, and Jo frowned when she saw neither of their fingers were turning bright red as hers had. She saw Fred fiddle with something brown in his pocket before George pulled her into conversation.

'I feel like we never really got to know each other last time...So, what school do you go to?' George asked.

'The name's Jo – I er… studied in a…boarding house a few miles from here…I don't recall seeing you two around town? How old are you?' Jo inquired.

'Oh, we're nineteen this April. How 'bout you?'

'Eighteen, in April as well. So where did you go to school?'

'Oh, we don't live here. My uncle owns a cottage down by the river. We're just down for Christmas.' George lied quickly.

'Really? I live right by the river! Maybe I know him. What's his name?' Jo said enthusiastically.

Fred interrupted their conversation by having a huge choking fit over his cocoa. George thumped him on the back hard while Jo went to fetch a cup of water, their topic of discussion lost.

When Fred had recovered, he produced the object of their visit: a small brown box.

'This time we have a new brand of magic…magic tricks for you, my dear, isn't that right George?' said Fred.

'I'll give you the honor of displaying them today,' George said.

'We present to you Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs!' Fred announced.

'Hang on a second…you know this is a _paper_ shop, right?' Jo said raising her eyebrows.

'Of course! We wouldn't want to catch it on fire now, would we?' said Fred seriously though he winked.

'I'm serious Fred! Damage comes out of _my_ paycheck!' Jo warned.

'I'm just yanking your wan – pulling your leg! Don't worry. These are completely safe,' Fred said reassuringly.

Jo looked at him in surprise. _Yanking your wand?_ _Must be from all of their magic tricks._ After reassuring herself, she said: 'Fire away, Fred.'

**Fred**

_Are you mad? God, Fred, what do you think you're doing? You nearly gave yourself and George away!_Fred thought angrily to himself. _What if she found out? Then what would you do?_

Fred opened his eyes feeling a sharp pain in his toes. Glancing to his side, he saw George glaring at him. Trying to convey his apology with his eyes, he looked back at him for a second. Fred thought it was pretty unfair to be mad at him when George himself kept lying through his teeth to keep himself out of trouble.

'Hey, Jo, is there a restroom here?' George asked stepping off of Fred.

'Yeah, first door on the left,' she replied.

'Thanks.' George walked down the hall to their right.

'Um…Fred?' Jo looked at him expectantly.

'Right! The fireworks. All right,' Fred said shaking his head. 'I'm just going to show you the small ones, so your precious shop doesn't catch on fire. So why are you working in a paper shop of all places?'

'Oh, I don't know, I guess I like the feel of being around paper that's being begged to be written on or something,' Jo said turning slightly pink as if in embarrassment.

'Isn't there something you really want to do?'

'Well, I'd love to go on an adventure. You see, I read a lot, and I can't help imagining what it would be like to go on a journey like people in books do,' she said turning even pinker.

Fred smiled to himself. Something about this girl reminded himself about Hermione, who was like a sister to him. He took out a small bright red package with a small thread to light. He got out a lighter and flicked it many times with no success in producing a fire.

'Here, let me do that,' Jo said laughing. 'Do you really not know how to use a lighter?'

When Fred looked at her smiling face, he felt a slight lurch in his stomach. Within no time Jo had the thread burning down.

'There you go,' said Jo, still smiling. Fred's face flushed as he snapped his eyes off of her face before she noticed he'd been staring.

With a shrill whistle a mini rocket burst out of the box and exploded creating small but magnificent fireworks. More rockets came out and created different shapes and even words.

Jo's jaw dropped when she saw the fireworks change into a dragon and fly around her room breathing tiny sparks. Fred looked at her excitement at the simple magic. But then he realized, as a Muggle, this kind of "magic" would seem impossible. He suddenly wondered whether it was a good idea to show her this specific "trick."

'You don't get fireworks like that anywhere, now do you?' Fred grinned trying to make himself feel better.

Jo shook her head.

'I don't know how these can work though! I've seen plenty of magic shows and tricks on streets, and loads of impressive fireworks, but these…these are unlike anything I've seen. They're amazing! The same goes to your card tricks; I mean, how can cards just change their designs?' Jo said thoughtfully.

The dragon had separated into three snakes that combined into a red and gold phoenix. Fred had designed these fireworks himself and took great pride in them. Jo's compliments made him feel really good, but highly uncomfortable as well.

'You know something? You and your brother…you're different from anyone I've seen,' she continued.

'Really? I thought we were identical!' Fred joked. 'So what do your parents do?' he said, trying to change the subject. But there was no need. A shadow seemed to fall across Jo's face when the phoenix that was flying around their heads flapped its wings together and disappeared with a great "poof." But at the same time, a loud BANG came from outside.

Jo screamed.

There was another huge explosion.

'What was that?' she cried.

Fred was about to say that he didn't know but when he looked outside the window, his heart skipped a beat. A dozen people wearing black cloaks and scary masks were walking around the village causing havoc with their wands. Death Eaters.

Her face frightened, Jo gripped his arm and peered outside to see what Fred was looking at.

'What's going on out there? Who are those people?' she asked. 'Are they holding…_wands_?'

At that very moment, a Death Eater shot a curse at their building causing the window panes to catch on fire. As if sensing the flammability of the room, it spread quickly and grew larger, licking at the papers. George ran in from the hall, pale faced. He looked outside, looking alarmed.

'Wait a second,' George said. Fred looked out. More figures were appearing grabbing on to the screaming Muggles and Disapparating. Fred recognized a bald black head of Kingsley Shacklebolt and the wooden leg of Mad-Eye Moody.

'I think the Order is helping people escape,' George said. He and Fred let their faces relax until they remembered someone else was there.

Jo screamed again. A large portion of the roof had caved in almost on top of her.

'Jo!' Fred shouted. 'Jo, I need you to get out of here as fast as you can. George, could you disapparate with her? Take her to…take her to the Burrow and let Mum or Dad figure out what to do with her.'

**Jo**

Panic was coursing through her, causing her heart to beat twice as fast as normal. Fred and George were talking as if she weren't there, but it wouldn't have mattered, seeing as she had no idea what they were talking about.

There was a huge crash and part of the roof fell, nearly on top of her. Jo shrieked. As though from far away she heard Fred telling her to leave, and to get George to…dis-something with her.

'No! I can't! Or at least I won't, not until I get my records and notebook. Otherwise my boss will – aarrgh!' Jo yelled back.

Another bang ripped through the air and Jo felt her feet leave the ground. Her head hit something hard and her vision blacked out.

**Jo**

The muffled sound of shouting and bangs made Jo open her eyes. She was lying in the snow five feet from the burning remains of her shop. Her whole body ached and when she tried to move her right arm, intense pain shot through it. She turned her head slightly to see where the noises were coming from. She saw one of the masked men waving around what to Jo looked like a wand, and looked to see who he was fighting.

Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw it was Fred and George. Their faces were screwed up in concentration and as she tried to get up to call out to them, there was a huge crash and her arms collapsed from under her. Black dots appeared in her eyes. Gladly, she gave herself in to the darkness.

When she woke up next, someone was carrying her. She blinked and saw the side of Fred's face. He was talking in hushed tones to George. Jo tilted her head to see where they were going and saw St. Thomas' Hospital. Fred looked down at her and he saw relief in his eyes when he saw she was awake.

'Hey,' he said quietly.

'Hey,' Jo muttered. 'What the hell just happened?'

'Nothing…we're just taking you to the hospital…I think you broke your arm. I'll talk to you later okay. The healer's come to take you.'

Someone was putting her onto a stretcher. _Healer?_she thought. She saw Fred and George's faces disappearing quickly.

'Wait! Fred!' Jo shouted.

'The surgery shouldn't take very long dear,' Jo heard a nurse say.

'Wait! I need to talk to - ,'

The doctor put a mask over her face and she felt her brain shutting down.


	2. Jo

**Jo**

**Fred**

George grabbed Fred's arm and firmly steered him away from the hospital doors.

'What are you doing, mate? She's a muggle, geddit. A _muggle!_ You showed her one of our most magical fireworks, you talk about the Order, Disapparating, Death Eaters and who knows what, and now you send her off to a _muggle_ hospital without modifying their memories like they must have done to all the other villagers. Are you crazy?' George said fiercely.

'Hey, you talked about them with me, George!' Fred replied indignantly. George rolled his eyes.

'I know, but –'

'What, are you worried that she'll go telling people about wands and magic?' Fred asked angrily.

'That's exactly what I'm worried about, Fred, and you should be worried about it too!' George exclaimed looking frustrated.

'Well what did you want us to do?' Fred shot back.

'Take her to some experienced Order member and get her fixed up.' George snapped. 'I didn't want you to try and deal with it yourself. But now she's in the hospital, so we're just going to have to follow up.'

Fred was fuming. He had no excuse for what he'd done, yet he knew he couldn't have done what George said was the smart thing to do. To top that, it was the first time in a long time that he and his twin had actually argued about something important.

There had been something different about Jo, something that made him think that he could tell her all about the way he lived. And she would understand it. Just the way she'd realized that his tricks were beyond muggles and how she noticed something different about Fred and George told him that.

He heard George take a deep breath and saw a cloud come from his mouth.

'All I have to say is, you got us into what could turn into a mess,' George said quietly. 'I'm not going to tell anyone in the Order about her, and neither are you.'

No muggle was in sight. They simultaneously turned around and disappeared with a crack.

**Fred**

Fred and George appeared in the snow covered Burrow. They heard a shriek when they walked through the door and had their breath taken away in a bone-crushing hug.

'Oh Fred! And George! I was so worried about you! I heard about what happened in the village! Are you two all right? The others have been helping get ready for lunch, so they don't know about it…did you two fight at all?' Mrs. Weasley asked looking relieved.

George exchanged a quick look with Fred. He understood what it meant immediately. Should they tell the truth or not? Since George had asked for Fred's opinion, he decided to take it upon himself to answer.

'Yeah…George and I fought off one and came home,' he said evasively. All he'd said was the truth, just not the full truth.

Mrs. Weasley looked at them questioningly but left Fred's explanation there.

'Well come sit down, boys. Everyone's getting ready to eat. Don't forget to put the gnome on the tree…' Mrs. Weasley said briskly, sounding more like her usual self. 'Ron! Harry! Go and put the cutlery on the table!'

'We already did!' bellowed Ron from inside the house.

Mrs. Weasley placed two swift kisses on their cheeks and bustled back to the kitchen shouting more instructions.

'Close shave Gred,' muttered George.

'After lunch, I'm going to go see where Jo is and –,' started Fred.

'- modify her memory, right?' finished George raising an eyebrow.

'After I talk to her.'

'What on earth would you want to talk to her about, except how you can't stop drooling over her?'

'Oh come on Forge, I'm not that bad,' Fred said grinning.

'Yeah, right. Okay, but I'm coming with you.'

**Jo**

Jo woke up feeling much better except for a small pain in her abdomen. Her right arm was in a sling, so she reached over with her left to pick up her watch. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon. A friendly looking nurse walked towards her.

'Hello dearie! The doctor will come see you in a few minutes, and after she's talked to you, you may go,' she said kindly.

'All right,' Jo said brightly. As soon as she got out of the hospital, she'd find more about what happened earlier that day.

The doctor, who was a middle-aged woman, came in to instruct Jo on how to take care of her arm and ribs and gave her some pain killers. At last Jo could leave. When she walked out through the lobby, no red heads were there. _They didn't wait._ But then she remembered what day it was. The twins must have gone back home to their houses for Christmas lunch.

She realized how hungry she was, and decided to drop by a store and pick up a sandwich. She felt in her pocket for a pound or two and felt nothing. It suddenly hit her that the store's cash register must have burnt up in the fire. Her heart pounded as she realized any money that she'd earned was gone, and she had nowhere to go.

**Jo**

_It was a bright, sunny day, perfect for Easter. If only the situation had been nicer. Jo and the other children in the orphanage lined up for daily inspection. The number of children living there had been declining quickly, and only six children remained, including Jo's best friend Sally. The two nine-year olds had grown up together and were almost like twins except for appearance. Jo wasn't a selfish person, but she was always secretly glad whenever adults came and never picked up Sally. It pinched a bit when she thought that Sally would miss Jo as much as Jo would miss Sally if Jo were to get picked up._

_After saying prayers and eating a meager breakfast, Sally and Jo went out to pick flowers to place in the fusty building. A posh car drove down the lane to the orphanage, and the two girls saw a well-to-do couple get out of the front seats. Jo perked up at once. Who was going to get picked up today?_

_Trying to look inconspicuous, the two crept closer to the entrance of the orphanage and tried to hear more of the conversation going on in Matron's office._

'_I wonder if Stinky Sam's getting picked up,' giggled Sally._

'_Shush up a minute, I want to hear!' Jo whispered._

'…_the papers are here for you to sign…make sure that this is the child that you want to take custody of…' Matron's voice came through the door._

_They heard a pen scribbling and a different woman's voice saying:_

'_We did it Lloyd! When can we pick her up?' she asked._

'_Her?' Jo whispered. There were only two girls in the orphanage. Sally and Jo._

_The door of the office opened and the couple walked out. Sally and Jo looked at each other with scared faces. Matron bustled out and saw the two girls huddled together in a corner._

'_Ah, there they are! Thick as thieves, as I told you,' said Matron briskly._

'_Wait, I want to guess…Which one of you is Sally?' smiled the to-be-mother._

_Jo gasped and backed away. She turned around and started running to her and Sally's room as fast as possible._

'_Ah, that must be her…Poor thing; she must be scared,' said the woman's husband._

'_No,' said Sally quietly. 'That's my best friend Jo. I'm Sally.'_

'_Pleasure to meet you! I'm Moira Clark, and this is my husband Lloyd Clark,' said Moira kindly. 'Now I think we're Mum and Dad, or whatever you prefer. We live down at…'_

_Jo had heard enough. Her shared room was right on top of the lobby; Sally and Jo had overheard many adoption processes through the vent that went through the two floors._

_A few minutes later, Sally came running into the room, breathless._

'_Can you believe it, Jo? After years and years, I'm finally getting adopted. I thought it'd never happen, and we'd turn into old maids here! They're lovely people by the sound of it. And looks, too, come to think of it. They're quite rich, and they said they'd give me pocket money every week. I'll be going to the Catholic school near their house and Daddy's to drop me off on his way to work. I have to pack up my possessions now, and then we'll go out to the ice-cream parlor,' Sally said excitedly._

_Jo listened to her ramble and said nothing. Sally took no notice, though. She continuing with her endless chatter, up-ending her drawers and stuffing shirts into her small bag._

'_Well, you'd best be going now,' said Jo sadly, when Sally's drawers were empty. Tears were welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over._

'_Oh, Jo! I'm going to miss you so much!' Sally said just as sadly._

_They both stepped up and hugged each other at the same time._

'_Me too,' said Jo said in a choked voice into her friend's shoulder. Her only real friend in the whole world was leaving her alone in the orphanage with no one to talk to, or play with, or even hang out with._

_Jo and Sally walked down together to the Clarks. They beckoned their new daughter to them and with a brief word with Matron they walked towards their car._

_Jo waved at Sally and Sally waved back, but Sally stopped quickly to whisper something into her mother's ear._

'_Jo, dear, whenever you feel like it, give us a call and you can come over to play with Sally!' Moira said with a smile._

'_Really?' Jo said suddenly happy._

'_Absolutely!'_

'_Bye Sally!'_

'_Bye Jo!' Sally shouted back from the car._

_For that week, everything was great. It was the next week that the bad news came._

_Jo had been to visit Sally once the last week and they'd had loads of fun at the cinema. Sally and her parents had gone on vacation the next day to America because of Mr. Clark's work. A week later, they rang up the orphanage to tell Jo that Mr. Clark had gotten a job offer in the States, and was taking it. The whole family was moving, which basically meant that Jo would probably never see her friend again._

_This thought proved true, because for the next almost seven years, Jo grew up without much social interaction, watching every other child come and go. When Jo was almost seventeen, Matron had come to her with news that Jo had predicted she'd hear anytime soon._

'_Jo, the orphanage can't run with only one child, and that too, a child who is soon to become a legal adult.'_

_The orphanage moved itself to a city many miles away, but Jo decided to stay. If she barely had anything in London, how could she have anything in a city she didn't know about?_

_Before Matron had left, Jo requested her to give any money Jo had saved in order to start a new life. She had about thirty pounds from all the fundraisers and little birthday gifts from Matron and Sally. After moving to America, Sally had written to Jo once a week, but the rate at which the letters came to her slowly dwindled to one every two months, to none._

_Jo searched everywhere for jobs in the city, where she could earn enough money to stay at a small, cheap apartment. After Sally had left, Jo hadn't much to do, so she'd spent all her spare time (which was most of her time) studying and learning everything that children in normal schools learnt. She bought third hand textbooks to learn and found herself exceeding the expectations of a child her age._

_Finally she found employment at a cramped coffee store that constantly had a line of men and women ordering espressos to finish their work. Jo occasionally took a sip or two of espresso herself, finding herself worn out with the job. In about a week of sleeping in a small bed and breakfast, she'd earned enough to pay for a small flat by the river. After two more months in the coffee shop, she decided to find herself a new job that she actually enjoyed._

_It was near summer that Jo got the job at the paper shop. The owner was a wizened old man, who left Jo to do most of the work. She thoroughly enjoyed her job at the shop, handling all the fresh paper and meeting new people every day. Soon all the leaves had fallen off of the trees, and it was winter once more._


	3. Boxing Day

**Jo**

Jo shook her head. Those memories were worthless now. She didn't have time to mope around outside a hospital and frighten herself. Jo remembered she had some emergency money saved up under her mattress, and decided that this was urgent enough to get her out.

Could there have been a chance that the cash register hadn't burnt up completely? That some money could be left? Jo thought about it and decided to go back to the village to investigate.

Fortunately her apartment was quite close to the hospital and when she reached her hand under the mattress, she found a substantial wad of bills there. Jo left them there and decided to crash for the night.

The next morning she picked up the key to the cash register from her drawer along with a few pound notes from beneath her bed. She changed into a thick orange jumper with her jeans, and fuchsia gloves, scarf and hat. As fast as she could, she exited her building and caught a taxi to the edge of the village.

'Been quite an accident there, miss,' commented the driver. 'I'd be careful if I were you.'

'Yes, I will be,' replied Jo, distracted. She could make out the smoldering remains of the paper shop.

'I'll only be a couple of minutes…do you mind waiting here for me?' Jo asked. The driver shook his head. She pressed a pound note into the his hand as compensation and made her way through what little snow patches there were left.

The shop was nothing but a pile of burnt up wood, but she decided to go in anyway. She gingerly stepped over the piles of ash that used to be huge stacks of paper until she reached where the cash register was. To her surprise, the steel register was still intact, just a little bit battered. Jo reached out to make sure it wasn't too hot, and pulled out the key from her jeans. However upon closer inspection, she found the drawer unlocked and ajar. Her heart pounding, she looked closer.

There had been little business that autumn, so Jo hadn't been expecting too much money to be left. She was right. The trays were empty.

Tears of frustration and panic started welling in her eyes. Without looking at where she was going, she stumbled out straight into a short man. The pungent smell of alcohol and tobacco reached her nose and she backed away quickly, trying to breathe in some fresh air. That turned out to be a difficult task. The man looked at her for a moment, moving closer to her, and a look of dawning comprehension came on his face.

'Hey…..you're not - hic – from Hogwarsh, are you? Thash not righ'…,' said the man, his speech slurred.

Jo backed away slowly, as if frightened by a wild beast. The man was making no sense, and something about him was very weird.

'Ma…Moody! Hey Kingshley! I got - hic - summat here…Hey!' the man shouted.

'_What_ is it now, Fletcher?' a gruff voice asked angrily. 'It'd better not be another bottle of ancient rum.'

'Nonshensh, Maddy…I got a - hic - Muggle!' the squat man said, pointing to Jo's slowly disappearing form.

'Hell you got a Muggle, you daft baboon. Who have you been robbing now?' the taller of the two asked glaring at Fletcher.

A bald black man came up frowning.

'A Muggle?' he said worriedly. 'There shouldn't be any sti…wait…look over there!'

He raised something long and pointy towards Jo. So did the other two.

'Stupe - hic - fy!' Fletcher yelled.

A streak of red light flew by Jo, missing her by several feet. Suddenly everything she'd seen earlier seemed very, very real.

She turned heel and ran as fast as she could back to the taxi. Several more streaks of red flew over the taxi and hit the trees around the village. Fortunately the driver had been napping, and only awoke when Jo had started the ignition and prodded him fiercely, telling him to get a move on. The situation made it seem like he'd been sleeping on the job, giving Jo an excuse for her harshness. The driver drove steadily onwards at a good speed until reaching Jo's apartment once more.

**Fred**

Fred and George spent Boxing Day making their store look as bright and cheery as it had before the school year at Hogwarts started. It took them most of the day, finally finishing in mid afternoon.

Fred still had his mind on Jo and wanted to go see her.

'Hey, George,' Fred started. 'I'm going out, if anyone wants me.'

'Okay,' his twin replied, looking in a Skiving Snackbox.

'Bye. I'll see you in a few hours.'

'Wait…where're you going again?' George looked up with a very knowing look in his eyes.

'None of your business, Georgie.'

'Ha! We know each others' business so well, if you went to the toi-!'

'I got the point!' Fred interrupted

'Well, anyway, I know where you're going.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Joooooooo!' George grinned wickedly.

'Well if you knew so well, why bother asking?' Fred said exasperatedly.

'Just to bug you.'

'_I_ am leaving.'

'Wait!'

'_What?'_

'Tell her George says "Hi!"'

'George!'

'Hmm...,' George said, looking back into the box. 'Please….carry on with my message.'

'Shuddup!'

Fred Disapparated, smiling to himself. A moment later, he reappeared in a dark corner behind the hospital. He walked in and tried to blend in. He saw a sign pointing to the front desk and decided to start there.

'Hi, how may I help you,' the lady there said monotonously.

'Er…do you have a Jo with a broken arm here?' he asked, sounding stupid to his own ears.

Clearly the woman thought so too.

'We had a Josephina Auclair here yesterday, but she left that day itself,' she replied after a minute looking in her records.

'Oh.'

'Next!' the lady called to the small line behind him.

'Wait! Do you know where she lives?' Fred asked quickly.

'That's classified information,' she replied icily.

Fred took that as a goodbye and walked out, disheartened. Suddenly he came up with an idea.

He went back to Diagon Alley and headed to Eeylops Owl Emporium. George had sent Sirius, their owl, to the Burrow with a letter, so that wasn't a current option. If nothing else could reach Jo, an owl could; it'd probably be the least freaky mail delivery out of many Fred could think of.

After renting a barn owl for five Knuts, he walked back to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and started writing. Fred wasn't quite sure how to write a letter to a Muggle who thought he was a weirdo, but after many crossed out sentences and crumpled up pieces of parchment, he came up with a one-line letter:

_Dear Jo,_

_Would you meet me at Cafe Manga on Westminister Bridge Road at 4:00?_

_Cheers,  
>Fred<em>

**Jo**

Jo was enjoying a dreamless nap on her bed enjoying the warmth of her comforter on such a cold day.

_Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap_

'Not now,' grumbled Jo.

_Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap_

'I don't need room service!' she snapped.

_Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap_

'For the love of god! Would you stop that incessant tapping!' she yelled at nothing in particular.

When it didn't stop, she hauled herself out of bed and opened her door. There was no one there. It was only when she heard the crash of shattered glass that she whipped around and saw her window in pieces on her floor and a feathered bird flying around in her room. Jo shrieked. The bird, who'd landed on her desk lamp ruffled its feathers in surprise and gave her a reproachful hoot.

It was only then that Jo notices that the (she figured out it was an owl) owl had a piece of paper tied to its leg. She gingerly untied it, fearing the bird's sharp beak and read the short note. It was from Fred, telling her to meet her at the cafe a few kilometers from her place. At first it puzzled her, that he'd want to meet her, but then it struck her that he wanted to explain the happenings of the previous day. _Well, maybe something will start making sense now..._

But the thought seemed wrong. Jo had seen what Fred, George and the people at the village had done. Fred may have taken her to the hospital, but there was no way she was risking her safety by going to a cafe with a stranger. After thinking it over for some time, Jo decided to go. She couldn't really lose anything by going, but if Fred told her anything, it would be to her advantage. However, she wasn't about to deal with him in a completely friendly way. He'd left her stranded with no idea of what was going on. He was in for a rap from her. She packed up her purse with a bottle and a few pounds, but she secretly hoped that Fred would pay for her coffee, if she got any.

As soon as she left the building, a taxi drew up, as if expecting her. The ride only took about ten minutes, so she was there right on the hour. She walked into the cafe and scanned the room for any sight of Fred. In a second, her eyes landed on the back of a red head sitting on a swivel chair. He was sipping his coffee and flipping through a magazine. _Stupid git. He didn't even wait for me to buy me a coffee,_Jo thought angrily. She stomped up to him and turned him around, not even bothering to look at his face and started berating him.

'So, you think you could just _leave_ me at a hospital to just pretend nothing happened? What were you thinking? You asked me to come here, and I will definitely not LEAVE until I get all the answers I need. If you try to worm your way out of this situation, I will _kill_ y-!' she started saying fiercely until her voice raised almost to a shout when she realized she was giving death threats to the wrong person.

'Uhhhnnn,' the man whimpered, frightened by Jo's glare. She blinked and a look of completely mortified. She backed away slowly mumbling her apologies and saying she thought he was someone else. She turned around and walked straight into something hard. She realized it was someone's chest and resumed her mumbled apologies when she heard a voice above her.

'Now where would you be going?' asked Fred jovially.

**Fred**

Jo looked at him blankly for a moment and then started verbally abusing him.

'You prat! You think you could just _leave_ me at a hospital and pretend nothi-!' Jo said heatedly, and then cut off, seeing Fred smirking at the number of faces staring at her exact same rant. 'Oh, forget it. Whatever I said to him,' she continued in an angry whisper, 'applies to you too. I will _kill_ you if you try to "worm your way out of this situation!" I have my ways of stopping you...'

Fred had not really planned on telling her anything at the cafe - it would be too risky in front of so many Muggles. As soon as she saw Jo yelling at some innocent red head, he completely forgot about telling her anything, and decided to admire her and pretend this was a date. Fred, who'd been laughing at the onlookers stopped paying attention to Jo's rant and thought how pretty she looked when she was angry. He was busy getting himself mesmerized in the depths of her near black eyes when she stopped talking abruptly.

'...and you'd better watch out otherwi- why're you staring at my eye?' Jo said suspiciously.

'Hmmph...Oh, nothing. Have a seat, won't you?' he said, gesturing to a small table. The two sat down and Fred ordered two cups of coffee.

'So, I hope you're here to _talk_,' Jo said meaningfully.

'Of course. I'll start now,' Fred said cheerfully. 'So, what do you think of this weather, hmm. Nasty cold...I wouldn't want to hang around it very long, would you? What do you think of our economic situation right now? Have you been to Caprice, that Mediterranean restaurant in Bloomsbury? Their food is delicious. I wish this place had a fire in it; it'd make it much more comfortable. Have you flown in a plane before? I haven't, but I'd love to. Much more adventurous than silly trains...' and so Fred continued for another minute or so, watching the expression of growing outrage on Jo's face.

She exploded in the middle of him telling her about how much he loved flowers, attracting amused gazes from other customers.

'I DID NOT COME HERE FOR THIS!' she yelled. She got out of her chair and was about to leave when Fred called her.

'Wait! Fine, come over here, I'll explain it!' he said. Fred saw a pleased look on Jo's face and she plopped herself back on her chair with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. Her mood change startled Fred, but he could only think of those big, beautiful eyes. And her smug smile.

'So...' he started quietly. 'When do you want to have our next date?'

Her outraged face was priceless. He started cracking up and pushed her cup of coffee towards her. She responded by knocking it over towards Fred and storming out of the cafe. He exited a minute later after paying up, gesturing silently to the other people that she was rather mental and not to pay attention to her.

As soon as he stepped out, it was quite easy to find her in the fairly crowded street. In her orange and pink attire, it was quite easy to see her glancing over her shoulder every few steps. Seeing her approach the next block, he Apparated to the corner next to the street she was approaching.

**Jo**

Jo walked away in a huff, furious at the way Fred was acting. If she ever saw him again, she was going to throttle him. She started getting worried, and hoped that Fred would have paid for the coffees. She looked hard at the ground she was fast-walking on, and crashed into something hard for the third time that day.

'Oh, for the love of G-!' Jo exclaimed looking up. 'FRED!'

Fred had appeared out of nowhere and was stalking her. Something was seriously wrong with him. Jo turned around and looked back after a few steps to see if he was giving chase. He had disappeared. Jo ran in the opposite direction, hoping to catch a taxi quickly. Jo made sure to look where she was going so she wouldn't crash into Fred again. When she saw a flash of red and someone coming in front of her, she rummaged in her purse for a second and pulled out what she was looking for. Fred's figure appeared and he was smiling mischievously. Jo returned the expression and raised her bottle of Mace. Closing her eyes, she pushed the button and held it for a few seconds. Hearing shouts of pain, Jo knew it had worked. She ran away to a nearby taxi, and thankfully, it was free. She told the driver her address and they took off, leaving Fred behind.


	4. Introduction to Magic

**YAY! I got my first review! Thanks Ironhide and Lennox :-)**

**Sorry for such a long wait! So...I think I'll either make my chapters shorter or update twice a week :(( because my school starts soon...HW! Hope you're enjoying the story so far...maybe if you review more i'd know :PPP...I used a phrase from HP7 that JKR wrote, but I don't claim it one bit. **

**Chapter 4**

**Introduction to Magic**

**Fred**

Fred swore several times, causing onlookers to snigger at his new-found pain. Jo had run away from him, after taking the time to laugh at his expression. He heard her yelling for a taxi and telling the driver her address. _Ha! At least I know where she lives!_ he thought. _Wait a second...I sound like a stalker. Fred, get a grip on yourself. _

He hopped around on the spot, afraid to try anything with his wand while amongst so many Muggles. Whenever he tried to open his eyes, they watered up and burned, so he kept them closed for a couple of minutes until most of the pain wore off. Fred walked swiftly to a dark alleyway to clear up his eyes. He made sure that no one was near before turning on the spot and reappearing in front of Jo's apartment building. Fred walked in and looked at the column of mailboxes until his eyes fell upon J. Auclair. Her room was on the second floor. He decided to go the Muggle way, and take the stairs. When he reached her door her non-verbally unlocked it and entered.

Her flat was relatively empty compared to the cluttered and cramped Burrow. There was a small sitting room, an even smaller kitchen and her bedroom and bathroom; just enough for one person to live in happily. Fred examined the sitting room, picking up the three or four coffee books on her table and looking at the motionless pictures. He was about to sit himself down in one of her chairs when he heard the lock clicking. Hastily, he put a Disillusionment Charm on himself and shivered quietly at the odd sensation creeping down his neck. He leaned against the wall next to her door right as Jo opened it.

**Jo**

Jo was glad that it only took ten minutes to get to her apartment. She still kept looking around her to see whether Fred was anywhere near. Jo hadn't noticed anything strange by the time she'd reached the building.

Jo checked her mail and was starting towards the stairs when she caught the faint smell of something familiar, but unusual. She inhaled deeply and frowned. Pushing it aside, she started up the stairs. The scent was still there on the staircase. It smelled like a combination butterscotch and a fresh, woody smell. Jo kept trying to figure out what smelled like that when she walked towards her flat. She unlocked her door right as she placed a name on the smell.

_Fred! But why does the building smell like him? _Jo thought. _Wait...my room smells like him too...that's weird. My door was locked and everything looks fine. Wait...how do I know what Fred _smells _like?_ Jo was disturbed by this revelation. Positive that there was something fishy going on, she picked up her fire extinguisher from and walked quietly around her house, looking for a burglar. Jo crept around her sitting room, and her other rooms, examining every inch.

There weren't any suspicious changes or noises, so Jo was convinced that she was imagining the "intruder." Her grip on the extinguisher loosened, and she was about to put it back in the corner next to the door when she heard someone clear their throat.

Jo turned around with the fire extinguisher still in hand and whacked the person behind hear with a satisfying-

**Fred**

THUD! Fred's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, yelling in pain.

**Jo**

Jo dropped the extinguisher and grabbed a chair from the sitting room to place Fred in. Fred was struggling to stand up, so Jo gave him a hand up and shoved him into the chair.

'Don't even think about moving, Fred,' Jo warned. She grabbed a roll of duct tape from her kitchen drawer in case he tried any tricks on her. At the moment, she wasn't afraid of that, since he was gasping in pain, tears streaming from his eyes. It took him a minute before he could talk normally.

'You, Jo, have a flair for causing immense pain,' he said with a grimace.

'You, Fred, have a flair for deserving it,' she replied, not at all buying his pained looks.

She walked over to her extinguisher, picked it up and weighed it in her hands. Jo tapped it against her leg and raised her eyebrows at Fred.

'Quite a weapon, eh?' she smirked. 'Tell you what...I'll give you a pain-killer to make you feel better.'

'What?...Those are two words that I really don't like, put together,' Fred said alarmed.

'Oh, don't be ridiculous, Fred, it's a _pain - killer, _not a crazy ax-man who's going to kill you!'

Jo took a couple of liquid tablets and handed them to Fred. 'Give me one sec,' she called from the sink, getting him some water.

She heard a strangled cry as she left the kitchen with a glass in her hands. Fred was standing up with his mouth open, fanning his tongue, while his face turned as red as his hair. Jo took the cup of water and pushed it towards him, forcing some down his throat.

'Did you seriously chew them?' Jo shrieked. Fred nodded, still panting from the burning sensation. 'God, you are idiotic. Don't you know that pills are supposed to be taken with water?'

She knew he was fine and couldn't help laughing at his scarlet face and dramatic puffing. He seemed to be recovering, and his face lightened considerably.

'I'm going to go get a pen and some paper, and _you_ are going to explain to me,' Jo said. 'And don't move a muscle.'

Confident that her captive wouldn't try leaving again, Jo swiftly walked to her bedroom to grab a pen and notebook. When she returned to the chair, no one was there.

'Damn!' Jo said loudly. _I should have taped him down! _Jo thought furiously.

She returned to her bedroom with her Mace and saw a grinning Fred sprawled with his legs crossed on her bed.

**Fred**

Jo looked murderous, but all Fred could think was: _If looks could kill!_

'What are you d - get_ off_ my bed!' she shouted. He blatantly refused by putting his arms under his head and wriggling into an even more comfortable position. Jo pulled up a chair and pointed to it, looking at Fred.

'Why bother with the chair, Jo? Come on the bed!' Fred said, as if it was his house. 'Feel free to...get _comfortable..._' he said waggling his eyebrows.

Jo raised the bottle of Mace threateningly and Fred cringed dramatically. Even in her anger, Jo couldn't help laughing at Fred's theatricals again.

The sight of Jo smiling at Fred caused him to get hypnotized before he caught himself staring _again_.

'God, you Muggles are really a lot tougher than we give you credit for,' he said impressed. Jo frowned at the term, and Fred remembered why he was there. 'So, I seriously am going to tell you what that was all about the other day.'

'You mean why those men in cloaks tried to bibbidi-bobbidi-boo me into oblivion?'

'Ye-What?'

'Never mind, it's from Cinderella.'

'Sounds like a disease.'

'Fred, you're hopeless. Go on with your story.'

Jo crossed her legs and put her face in her hands.

'You know all those tricks George and I showed you when we visited the shop?' Fred asked. Jo nodded. 'Well, those weren't any old tricks.'

Jo laughed. 'Of course they weren't! I'd never seen anything like them before!'

'No, seriously.' Fred said unusually sober. 'Those things...well...I dunno how to put this to you...it was _magic._'

Jo raised her eyebrows, but more out of surprise than skepticism. 'Magic,' she repeated.

'Yeah, but not the kind of magic that you Mug- people talk about. I mean the real deal. Like wands and spells and potions, etcetera,' Fred said. 'It actually exists, but Muggles, which means non-magical people, don't really know about it.'

Jo gaped at him. 'Okay...so you could make someone float in midair?' she asked.

Fred felt like laughing. Learning how to make something fly was part of the first-year curriculum at Hogwarts. 'Yes, but there's much more than that.'

'More? Could you make love potions, and understand animals, and ride on broomsticks?' Jo chuckled at the last one. Fred was amazed at how everything she had mentioned was actually real, but she didn't know anything about them.

'Seems like you wouldn't need me to figure out what else you could do,' Fred said, intrigued by her insight of the unknown. Jo grinned.

'When I was a kid, my best friend and I used to steal Matron's broomsticks and pretend to ride around on them like witches. It was quite fun then, but when I was older, it seemed like a lot of tosh. And now you're telling me that it's real?'

'Really?' Fred laughed, trying to imagine Jo at five, running around on a broom.

'So, do you people go to some sort of school to learn this stuff?' Jo asked curiously.

'Yeah...It's called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's a huge castle, but it's enchanted so that Muggles can't see it.'

'But why not?'

'Well, what do you think would happen if everyone in the world knew that magic existed, really?'

'Er...okay, never mind.'

'Exactly. Actually, our school's a lot like Muggle school. We start on the first day of September, and have Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. There're four houses that we get sorted into, and they are like family...' Fred went on and on for a couple of hours, explaining about Hogwarts, a little about the Ministry and his family. Jo would interrupt and ask intelligent questions and exclaimed in amazement about the ghosts and moving portraits. She laughed at Fred's description of his brothers and Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex.

When he'd finished, Jo said: 'Wow! That was a lot to take in. But is it all right? You telling me all of this stuff? I feel like I shouldn't know about it,' Jo said uncertainly.

'Well, you shouldn't,' Fred smiled. 'But do you understand it?'

'Sort of...You know...it's late, and I have to job hunt, make dinner, and do all of that evening stuff...could you give me some time to mull this over?' Jo asked.

'Yeah, absolutely!'

'Cool.'

'Okay, I'd best be going too. See you later?'

'How about this. I'll get another job, then we'll meet over the weekend sometime.'

'Okay! Sounds like a plan.'

And with that, Fred disappeared with a _crack._

**So, how do you like this chapter? Much shorter, b/c the next one is very full :) School starts in a week, so twice a week posts sounds reasonable. I know this one was ten days, but that's not going to happen again! **

**REVIEW PLEASE! **

**Sammy-U out**


	5. Job Hunt

**Oh My God it has been over a MONTH! I have had such a bad case of WRITER'S BLOCK! I am so sorry for leaving you with such a long wait, but school does that to you! I plan on updating like how I said in my letter, so bear with me - I'll try to keep the chapters either nice and long or short and cliffhangy...I don't think that's a word :PPP **

**Sorry if some of my previous chapters seemed a little off - I had to edit something and it took forever - For those of you who aren't going back to the beginning,_ I made Jo 17 instead of 16_! You'll see why later. This chapter's mostly Jo :)**

**Chapter 5**

**Job Hunt**

**Jo**

Jo was in a daze. While Fred had been talking, she'd been attentive and completely aware of what was going on. But after Fred had finished his story, Jo was exhausted and completely confused.

_Magic actually exists...Magic is real...Fred is a wizard..._Jo thought numbly. She could barely hear what she was saying when she told Fred to meet her later. Jo closed her eyes and tried to focus. She opened her eyes at the sound of a sharp crack. Fred had gone. Jo assumed that he'd shut the door loudly, so she sat back down. She reached her hand up to rub her eyes and felt a tight pain in her arm.

_Crap! I forgot about my arm!_

'This is a pain in the ar- Wait!' Jo exclaimed as an idea popped into her head. If Fred was really a "wizard," then he'd be able to fix her arm, wouldn't he?

Jo hopped off of her bed carefully and opened her door, looking both ways to see if Fred was in sight. There was no sign of him, so she headed down the stairs to the lobby. Still no sight of him. Sighing, Jo headed back up the stairs to her room. Her head was still buzzing from all of the information she'd just learned. She still couldn't wrap her head around what Fred'd told her - it was too visionary.

_Lord, I'm tired, _Jo thought. She walked into her bedroom and got changed into some night clothes. It wasn't very late, but Jo had to go job hunting the next day while her boss figured out a way to rebuild their little store. She grabbed the same notepad and pen that she had brought to write down Fred's stories and saw it was completely blank, except for one line that said: **Fred's Feedback**.

Jo chuckled when she read that. The anger and frustration she'd felt with the redhead had disappeared as soon as he said that...magic...actually existed. The word felt weird on her tongue after Fred's explanation of it. Jo and Sally _had_ actually done all of the things she told Fred they'd done. If Sally could hear that it was true! Jo frowned after the thought. Sally had probably forgotten about her. _Some friend, eh? _She rolled her eyes, annoyed. Jo made herself a cup of cocoa and read through the daily newspaper for any job advertisements.

Yawning, Jo thought it was ready to go to bed. She clambered out of the cushioned chair she'd curled up into. She'd circled seven or eight companies wanting young employees. Jo yawned again and dragged herself over to her bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.

**Fred**

Fred sauntered into George and his flat whistling happily. Jo had completely understood everything he'd told her, just like he'd predicted. Yes, she had listened and asked questions and had listened to him explain about - magic. Magic. _Magic. _Muggle. _Magic. Muggle. Pretty! MUGGLE!_

_Damn. _

You'd think with a father as Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Fred would be careful with what he said and did around muggles. But _no. _He was Fred Weasley, the prankster, the mischief maker, the flirt and the risk taker. Of course he would have to put his toe - no, his whole body - out of line by revealing all to Jo. Fred groaned inwardly as he entered the sitting room.

'Hey, Freddie, how was your date? You've been gone a long time, eh?' George asked slyly.

'Hmm...Oh, yeah...It was good...Sorry I'm late,' Fred said, distracted.

'Yeah, you are late, aren't you?' George responded. 'You seem a bit dazed, bro...What happened to you?'

Fred remained silent.

'Something special happen?'

Fred shrugged noncommittally.

'No way...You did not kiss her!' George exclaimed in glee.

'No!' Fred was jolted out of his stupor by the ludicrous idea. 'No you prat, I-'

'Damn, that's too bad. So what did you do?' George said fake pouting.

'I-,' Fred hesitated again.

'I'm not getting younger here, Freddo, and neither are you.'

'I-uh...'

'Spit it out will you?'

'I...you are so annoying sometimes, George. I...I told her about magic, alright?' Fred said, flustered by his twin's persistence.

'You _what_?' George yelled.

**Jo**

The next morning, Jo woke up, her body groaning and telling her to go back to sleep. She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. It was 6 o'clock in the morning. Jo sighed and got up to get ready for her busy day.

After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, Jo changed into some business like clothes. She didn't own too many outfits, but she managed to rustle something up. Jo picked out a red blouse and a simple knee-length black skirt that had been donated to the orphanage in fairly good condition. Jo only owned a simple eyeliner pencil, and decided to dress her eyes up so she'd look a little older than she was. That was her life. Always pretending to be someone she wasn't. When she was in the orphanage, she spent all of her time studying the tattered textbooks from the local schools. She hardly spoke to anyone and had no real friends. At work, she'd run the paper store by herself, and her ancient boss would sit in the back room, trying to do paperwork, but really sleeping over it.

The thought of her boss reminded her. She'd have to go tell him about the store burning down. No doubt he'd already been told and had a heart failure about it. Jo smiled thinking of the old man. After waking up, he'd run to her panicking about some papers and customers. Jo had gotten used to doing all the work, and would tell him every day that she'd already taken care of everything.

Jo sighed again. It was going to be a long day. She brushed her hair and put it into a neat plait before gathering up her newspaper,forms and purse.

She walked out the door, confident that one of the jobs would be right for her. Of course, the paper shop had been fantastic, but it was no more. Which reminded her, she'd have to go talk to her old boss later. _That can wait. You have to go get a job, girl, _Jo told herself. Her first stop was at a bakery right across the street. Jo was rather weary of working at food shops, for fear of putting on weight, but if she were a cashier, then she wouldn't have to worry.

Jo entered the store with a smile. She had gone there often to pick up brunch, and was adored by the plump cook who bustled around, her hands full with trays of croissants and jam buns.

'Good morning, Mrs. Garden!' Jo grinned.

'Good mornin' Jo,' the woman replied, pushing a display tray under the glass. 'What can I do for you today?'

'I saw your advertisement in the newspaper, and I wondered whether I could work here for some time,' Jo said.

'Ah, so you saw the ad. Well, I need another pair of hands taking orders and working at the cash register,' Mrs. Garden said, facing Jo.

'Really? Excellent! I've spent both of my previous jobs doing those things, and I'm quite adept at it now,' Jo said confidently.

'Your previous jobs?' Mrs. Garden said with an eyebrow raised. She dusted her hands on her apron and put them on her hips.

'I quit working at a coffee shop to basically run the paper store in the village nearby. It got burnt down in a...an attack, as did most of the other buildings,' Jo said tentatively, not wanting to reveal anything she knew.

'Oh, poor dear! I heard about that. What do they think it was, terrorists?' said Mrs. Garden, looking worried. Jo shrugged, refusing to say anything. 'Well, we'll see - I'll keep you in mind. If you want, go around to any other places, but if they say no, you're more than welcome here.'

'Thank you!' Jo said. The bells on door tinkled as Jo pushed it open; her next stop was at a library. She loved being surrounded by paper, and when she lived in the orphanage, the library was her favorite place to relax and settle down with a good book. When she was one of the very few orphans left, she'd request to spend hours there, simply reading her textbooks and novels. There had been an ad placed in the newspaper, but the library jobs filled in quickly, because so many teenagers wanting work hours got in easily.

Like the bakery, the library wasn't very far away from her apartment, so after a five minute walk, she was walking along the shelves upon shelves of books, ranging from fantasy to auto-biographies, browsing at the new books before going to the head librarian.

Jo could see many people bustling about with ID tags on and her heart dropped slightly, but she went ahead all the same.

'Hello Ms. Hull,' greeted Jo with a small smile.

'Why hello there, er...' started the librarian, no hint of recognition in her eyes.

'...Jo,' Jo filled in for her. 'I come here just about every week.'

'Right! I remember you!' Ms. Hull said unconvincingly. 'What can I help you with today?'

'I saw your advertisement in the papers, and wondered whether the helper job was still open...' said Jo.

'Oh, I'm sorry dear, but the position has already been filled,' Ms. Hull said with a sad smile.

'That's what I expected,' Jo said. 'But if you ever require some help, I'll be there. I know this place inside out.' Jo said almost smugly.

And so Jo went, going from place to place, but the last place had a vacant job still. _God, people are really desperate for money, aren't they?_ Jo thought. _But then again, you're one of those desperate people too, honey._

She shook her head, irritated, and entered the battered store. Most of the people in there were men in neat shirts, but she none of them, both men and women looked very happy in their jobs. It was a phone connector service company, and she expected some jobs to still be open by the time she got to it. She realized why as soon as she saw the boss.

'Dot, bring me my coffee. My kind. You lot over there, you have to work overtime today - I'm going to a party this evening. Chicks, work on the attractiveness of your voices. I wouldn't like to hear some boring old droning voice like yours. You all are so useless. Why do I bother. _Dot! _Where is my _coffee?_' the boss yelled. His name plate read "Mr. Magnus Piger. He placed his large, boot clad feet on his table and took the coffee mug from the tray that Dot brought him. Jo got a look inside it and saw a honey colored thin liquid that smelled strongly of alcohol.

'So, babe, whaddaya want?' the man asked loudly surveying her through his small beady eyes.

'I was going to...' Jo hesitated, wondering if she really wanted a job with such a boozer. 'Er...apply for a job here...do you have any forms that I can fill out?'

'A job, eh? Well, go to Dot, she'll give you the...whatever it is you need. DOT!' he yelled again. Jo couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the thin woman running around the building. She appeared in an instant at Piger's side.

'Give her,' he said indicating Jo, 'the papers and tell her to come back later. She looks like good material.'

He said the last part in a low whisper, but perhaps it was because he drank so much it came out in his normal voice. The women simultaneously glanced at their boss in disgust and all of the men looked up from their papers to see Jo.

Jo blushed under all of the gaze and hastily grabbed the papers and left. She knew for sure which company was not getting her services.

She was still red in the face by the time she'd reached her old boss's house. She rang the doorbell and the old maid, Gladys, opened the door.

Gladys ushered her in quickly and had beads of perspiration on her forehead.

'Is anything wrong Gladys?' Jo asked, confused by the maid's look of worry.

'Oh...Jo...Mr. Watson had a heart failure,' Gladys said, her eyes tearing up.

'WHAT?' Jo cried. It seemed like a terrible nightmare. First, the building getting burnt down, now her boss getting a heart failure. 'How?' she added in quieter tones.

'Well, it seems that after someone told him that his building burnt down he just fell down and went unconscious. It's quite dreadful,' Gladys said, breaking down and crying into Jo's shoulder.

'There, there, Gladys,' Jo said numbly. If she hadn't been so shocked, her reaction would've been very similar to the maid's. 'Where is he now?'

'Well,' she said mopping up her tears on a hankie. 'They took him to the hospital, so I suppose he's there right now. I think you should go see him, before he...before...'

Jo didn't need Gladys to finish her sentence. She knew very well what would come next.

_Dear Lord. What are you doing to my life?_

* * *

><p><strong>I figured out the line thing :) Phew, another chapter! Please Please tell me what you think! I'll try to get the next one up sooner than this one!<strong>

**Love and bunnies XD**

**Sammy-U**


	6. Stress

**I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME!**

**This chapter is really long for me, and it took me about a week on the bus to write - I started another fic if you want to read it - Come and Go!**

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed -**

**TwiHarInk113, movinggirl, KaramelKat, LittleKettle, lunasammy, Thy Green Thing and Phlob and Ironhide and Lennox**

**love y'all XD (ps read their stories - they're awesome!)**

**A lot goes on in this chapter, and there will be more J/F bonding time in the next one - i realized the bus is a great place to write :)**

**Okay, won't keep you waiting - here it comes!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Stress**

* * *

><p><strong>Fred<strong>

'WHAT?' How could you?' George yelled.

'I-I…Well, I-,' Fred stammered.

'You told JO about MAGIC?'

'I-'

George growled in frustration. Fred almost backed away in fear. The two rarely got into fights, and when they did, Fred usually won with his harsher tongue. This one was a change from tradition.

'Yeah, Fred, it's all "I" for you. Think about the other people who'll be affected by this! Our whole family! If the Ministry finds out that you told a non-relative Muggle about magic, we'll be in deep sh-'

During George's rant, Fred's expression changed from shocked to angry.

'Hey – _You_ were the one who showed her the magic cards first! She was bound to suspect something!'

'Well, the Death Eater attack happened when _you_ were with her. _You_ went and visited her and brought her into this whole matter. _You_ were the one who told her about magic!'

George ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, looking strained.

'So now everything _is_ about me,' Fred said bitterly.

'Fred-'

'I know what I did, George,' he interrupted. 'I'm going to go back to Jo and tell her not to tell anybody else.'

'Ha!' George let out a laugh full of mirth. 'You don't know what you're dealing with, do you? You can't trust a Muggle with anything, especially not magic.'

'You know what? You're starting to sound a lot like Malfoy,' Fred snapped.

'I do not!' George said indignantly. His tone made Fred chuckle quietly, but his amusement was cut short quickly when George continued.

'There are _Death Eaters_ out there, Freddo, and they will not stand anyone knowing about us. A slip of the tongue, and…' George ran his hand across his neck.

'That's not going to happen.'

'Don't be so sure, Fred. It's a changing world out there. Honestly, I don't see Scrimgeour doing much better than Fudge. All he's done so far is try to hire Harry. And make him our mascot.'

For some reason, seeing a man dressed up as Harry with a giant scar across his head occurred to them as hilarious. They both looked at each other for a moment before simultaneously bursting into laughter. Nothing funny had really happened, but it felt like an apology to the other for getting mad.

'Anyway, like I said, I'll go meet her some time,' Fred told George, wiping his eyes.

'Well, I'm not going to keep arguing with you unless something really bad happens,' George replied.

The twins walked over to their chairs and sat down, facing the fire blazing happily in the hearth. Retractable desks stood nearby, and scrolls upon scrolls of parchment were strewn across them, with drawings of the effects of the double ended pills that Fred and George had perfected.

'So, do you have any new ideas for the shop?' George inquired.

Fred thought long and hard. In all honesty, he hadn't. His job over the holidays was to come up with a new product that would attract students who dreaded their upcoming exams, or wanted to play a good prank on somebody else. Fred particularly relished the tricks where the Slytherins were victims. The Skiving Snackboxes were still sold out, but the red-heads liked keeping things fresh

'Er…' Fred started. Already he was getting distracted by someone's pair of beautiful eyes. His dreams were full of them. His mind went back to the time he had last seen Jo. She had let him tell her about magic, but before that, she had attacked him with-

'Painful Spray Potion!' Fred exclaimed.

'Excuse me, what?' George asked, looking befuddled.

'Well, when I saw Jo last, and asked her for a date, she sprayed my face with this pink bottle that contained a potion that made my eyes water and burn.'

'Are you sure you weren't staring at her "Deep black eyes" for too long?' George said slyly.

'No-Wait…how do you-I did not-, 'Fred spluttered.

'You mutter in your sleep, dear.'

'Oh.'

**Jo**

Everything was a blur. Jo had recalled the maid saying the old man had a stroke, and now she was in an ambulance, rushing off to the hospital. She leapt out of the truck and ran straight into the Emergency Room to look for Mr. Watson. Her arm ached from the force with which she landed on the ground and she winced. Jo readjusted her sling strap and walked in.

As soon as she entered, she was bombarded by several other families coming in and out, escorting people with various problems. She tried to push her way through the crowd and realized there was a twenty five foot long line of people waiting at the front desk. Jo tapped her foot impatiently. The doctors said they weren't sure when Mr. Watson would wake up, if he did at all. Apparently this hadn't been his first heart failure – He'd had two previously, each detrimental to his health. _No wonder I ended up doing most of the work in the paper shop,_Jo thought miserably.

Suddenly, a voice called:

'Josephina Auclair?'

Jo looked up, startled and saw a woman wearing white robes standing at a door, looking around.

'Ah, there you are. I hear that you were 's only relative?' she asked, looking at her clipboard.

_His relative? What would I be, his great-granddaughter?_ Jo smiled to herself. Though she hadn't thought of him recently, she realized she was genuinely fond of her old boss, and desperately wanted to see him before he…she didn't like to think of him dying.

'Yes, I'm here,' Jo said, slipping out of the line to meet the doctor.

'Well, I'm afraid Mr. Watson is in no condition to speak right now, so if you're here to see him, you'll have to wait in the lobby, or better, stay at the hotel to the left of this hospital.'

_Wait? What if he died in his sleep?_

'But what happens if he…flat-lines before I get to see him?' Jo cried.

'Do not worry, he's in good hands,' the woman said. It was clear that she had made the same speech to many other families. Her face showed no reassurance, and her tone was clipped. Biting her lip, unsure of whether to argue further, or to just go home, she slowly edged away from the doctor. Some part of her wanted to enter the emergency room anyway, but her mind told her it was a stupid idea. Sighing, Jo nodded to the woman and meandered out of the building.

Cold air blasted in Jo's face as soon as she stepped outside. Snow was ever so gently falling and she could see the cloud her breath was making.

Her apartment was quite a whiles away, but Jo decided to walk there anyway. After the gloom and doom of the hospital had left, she saw the streets crowded with people. It was a Friday night after Christmas, so plenty of families and friends would be out doing something fun. She passed by many drunken people and groups of homeless people on the way.

After walking for a couple of blocks, she took a left, near a popular gathering place for teenagers and college students. There was a skating rink and a few small restaurants that were usually filled with people. It was 10:15 though, so most of the kids who usually occupied the pretty area were leaving. Only a handful of couples were left, most of them snogging. Jo spaced out, looking at one of them.

_God, why do they do that? Do they really think it's appropriate?_ Jo thought to herself.

_Stop being such a prude, Josephina. You know you wouldn't mind if it were you, _a voice in her head said.

_What are you talking about! I do not fancy – I don't even know that guy! _

_Don't be stupid, Jo. You know what I mean….maybe a certain – _

'Whoa, there, way too much from you,' Jo muttered to herself. 'Stop right there.'

Only one couple was on the skating rink. Jo subconsciously stopped walking to watch what they were doing.

The boy offered his hand to, apparently, his girlfriend, and they began skating gracefully. By the expression on their faces, it was clear that they were madly in love. A wave of self-pity washed over Jo. No one had ever looked at her with such adoration in their eyes. She barely talked to anyone other than customers and colleagues, anyway. The couple stopped in the middle of the skating rink and kissed each other. That was the last straw. Jo stomped away, angry at herself for being so dramatic.

Little did she notice that a certain red head had been watching her from the other side of the rink with the same adoration that she had longed for.

**Fred**

After discussing the whole Painful Spray Potion, George had retired and went up to his bedroom to go to sleep.

'I'm going to sleep now, alright Fred?' George yawned. He stretched and tromped away from the fire and to his room.

'Okay. I'll probably be up in the next half-hour,' Fred lied. He tried not to smile to broadly at the fact that he was going to see Jo again. He waited impatiently for his twin to go upstairs and sneaked to his room after he heard the loud creak of George's bed. Fred grabbed his coat off of his bed and headed outside before Apparating, so he wouldn't wake up his twin.

He reappeared with a _crack_ in small alleyway in London. A few drunken young men were sitting around a small fire, waving their bottles around at the few people walking around. They leered at a girl walking by, and said:

'Oi – _hic_ – girlie – _hic_! Fancy a –_hic_ – drink?' one of them shouted at her. The dark-haired girl walked by, shooting a disgusted glance at the drunkards. Fred walked towards the men to get out of the alleyway when he stopped in his tracks.

_Was that Jo? Merlin, it _was _Jo! I am one lucky bloke! _Fred thought dazedly. He felt a tug on his lips.

'Good evening, men,' he called to the men, jauntily. His day had just gotten much better after seeing Jo.

'What the-_hic-_ bloody hell-_hic -_ are you doing-_hic-_out here, ginger?' the same one grunted at Fred. 'Go one! Get-_hic-_ out of 'ere!'

Taking the cue, Fred left, stepping over their legs in long strides. He followed Jo from a distance, watching her wander slightly on the roads, kicking little rocks. Her shoulders slumped like she was tired, and her footsteps were heavy.

Suddenly, a bright light met his eyes. A huge block of ice was on the ground, reflecting the moonlight and lamps around it. A bunch of couples were walking away and snogging. Fred made a face, and then laughed at himself. He could be very immature sometimes.

_Well, what if that were Jo? _a voice said in his head.

'_Well…_' Fred started suggestively.

_Never mind. _

Fred watched Jo from the other side of the rink and stood behind a tree, pulling his navy blue cap with a G on it over his fiery hair. She walked along, but suddenly stopped, Fred supposed to watch the skaters. He concentrated on her face, watching her expressions, when she turned around abruptly, wiping her face with her sleeve.

_Allergies, probably,_ Fred thought.

Allergies? _Fred you are the daftest person I've ever met, _said the voice, which had returned. _She's crying, you idiot._

Fred's eyes grew wider as he realized that his little companion in his head was right. But what would make Jo cry like that? He hastened to follow her through another street, keeping a good twenty five yard distance between them. For some reason, he didn't think going up to her and saying: 'Surprise! It's me!' would make her feel any better.

After a good two kilometers, Jo walked into an apartment complex. Thinking that wasn't a good time to reveal himself, since her eyes were still red, Fred hung out by the wall waiting for a quarter of an hour, desperate to meet Jo.

**Jo**

Jo was exhausted. She fished in her pocket with her good arm for the key, and pulled out the key to her rom. The door opened with a click and she trudged in, head drooping. She was sick of the drama that had started in the past three days and just wanted to get away. Which, unfortunately, she couldn't. Sitting on her bed were a bunch of application letters and notes that she had taken about magic. _Magic…It really exists? What if the whole thing was a scam and he was just trying to get a cheap date?_ These thoughts ran through Jo's mind, bothering her even more. Last but not least, her brain was mulling over what would happen if Mr. Watson died on her. She couldn't help thinking that was the likeliest case.

Tiredly, Jo ungracefully pulled off her clothes and grabbed her most comfortable night-suit. It was short pink dress, barely reaching her knees, but it was easy to get on with her arm in a sling. She picked up all of the papers and threw away most of the job applications to the stores she had visited. Left were a few lengthy forms for clothing stores, gift shops and one for a florist's assistant. Jo didn't know much about flowers, but she was a quick learner – she'd pick up fast.

Jo climbed into bed and pulled the covers around her shoulders. Picking up her pen, she started scribbling her name, address, age, phone number, previous job, and much more. Her hand ached after filling in just the personal part of the first application. Jo tilted her head back, sighing, and got back to work. A chant of the things on her mind started getting louder and louder, echoing in her ears.

_Josephina Auclair, seventeen years old, Mr. Watson, magic, Paper Shop, Fred, Josephina Auclair, Mr. Watson, Fred, magic, seventeen years old, magic, Fred, Mr. Watson….._

**Fred**

Fred was getting bored. He decided it was time to go in. Rather than entering through the lobby, he simply kept Jo's apartment in mind and turned on the spot.

He appeared in Jo's room with a crack. He wandered around in the hall until he heard deep breathing. He opened the door and saw Jo, lying asleep, surrounded by papers. Her face was knotted up with worry, and she twitched in her sleep. He couldn't help noticing the covers were off of her, like she'd kicked them off, exposing her long legs.

He let his eyes wander for a moment before shaking himself. _Idiot. She'd probably kill you if she saw you staring at her. _Suddenly, Jo shifted and stretched, her eyes still closed. Fred decided to hold up the Gryffindor spirit and be brave and rash. He sat down on the side of her bed where her legs weren't and leaned back ever so slightly. The bed creaked. Loudly.

Jo woke up and rubbed her eyes, unaware of the fact that Fred was sitting right next to her. She went o pick up her papers from her bedside desk, eyes almost closed, and found herself unable to reach her desk. There was something big and broad in her way. She pushed it and tried reaching for her papers.

Fred happened to be the thing in Jo's way. He watched her actions with amusement in his eyes as she pushed him. He decided to play with it and rolled onto his back, allowing her to reach over him. She grabbed for her desk blindly and her hand patted the desk searchingly until it reached her papers. She picked them up and and pulled them towards her, still groggy. _Why bother even trying to wake up?_ Fred thought.

Unfortunately for him, that was what Jo was thinking too. She groaned and fell backwards on her back, her head falling straight onto Fred's.

Fred saw something coming towards him out of the corner of his eye, but he was too busy looking at something else.

_Thud._

'MERLIN"S BAGGY LEFT -!' Fred yelled. Jo's head had fallen almost directly on his nose. Jo on the other hand, had bounced up like a rubber ball as soon as her head hit something other than her pillow.

Fred should have prepared himself better. Jo took one look at him and screamed. Even Ginny didn't scream as loud when she was angry. Merlin, she was even louder than his mother's howler!

'FRED! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT?' she shrieked.

'Jo, _shut up!' _Fred shushed her.

'I WILL NOT BLOODY SHUT UP!' she yelled back.

'Someone's going to hear-' Fred started, holding his hands up to get her to calm down, when someone knocked on the door.

**Jo**

Jo stomped off, steam pouring out of her ears. She was probably overreacting, but she had never woken up with someone in her bed. _How did he even get in? The door's locked!_

Jo opened the door and found her landlady outside with a candle in her hand.

'Is everything alright, dear?' she asked.

'Yes, everything's alright,' Jo replied meekly. The landlady took a step forward and looked into her room. Jo turned to see what she was looking at. In the bedroom was Fred adjusting his shirt and standing up. The landlady raised her eyebrows and looked Jo up and down, registering the skimpy night suit she was wearing. Jo wasn't stupid. She could put two and two together to find out what her landlady was thinking.

Jo blushed a tomato red and hastily said goodnight, closing the door. Her posture immediately changed when she saw Fred in her bedroom. She walked right up to him and slapped him right across the face with all of the strength she could muster.

Her hit left a red handprint on Fred's face. He yelped in pain and looked at her indignantly.

'What was that for?' he demanded.

'That was for breaking into my apartment,' she replied calmly. She then pulled her arm back and whacked him again.

'_Bloody hell!' _Fred shouted. 'T_hat_ was uncalled for.'

'Well, excuse me, but my landlady believes I'm sleeping with you,' Jo fumed.

Fred's eyebrows raised and grinned.

'It's _not_ funny!' Jo yelled, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly. 'Everything does not need to be made into a joke!'

Fred's smile drooped a bit and he sat down on her bed again.

'I've been stressing out ever since you and your twin showed up at the store. First these weird men show up and try to kill me, and then you tell me magic is real, and I'm going job hunting to find bosses who don't treat me like a plaything. My old boss just had a heart attack, and he's probably going to die. Now I'm here freaking out because YOU somehow got into my house and gave my landlady the impression that I'm….ARGH!' she cried, falling onto her bed and holding her head in her hands.

Jo wasn't one to cry very often, but this time she just couldn't help it. Her tears poured out of her eyes and she just sat there, strained with all the tension she'd been feeling.

**Fred**

Fred wasn't sure how he ended up in his position, but he was in it. Jo was lying down with her head on his chest, face down. His arms were around her and he was half-sitting half-lying on her bed. Jo had spent the next quarter of an hour crying out her story, and Fred being the gentleman he was, listened to her and comforted her. He held her in his arms until her sobbing subsided.

Soon enough, she was fast asleep, her hair all over her face and his shirt. Fred couldn't really complain about his proximity to her; it was better than he had hoped for.

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><p><strong>Don't you guys love me for the longness! (length!) Hope you liked this chapter !<strong>

**Please leave a review -**

**If you Alert of Fav, PLEASE tell me what you think! It really means a lot :D**

**love and bunnies,**

**Sammy-U**


	7. Realizations

**Hey :) I KNOW this took FOREVER! I was in Alice in Wonderland and tech week (which lasts 'til about 11 o'clock in the night) and I have been recovering and there was also Thanksgiving break, so it took me a while to update :( my drama teacher is prettty intense!**

**Here's the next chapter - shorter, but I can DEFINITELY get the next one in less than a week.**

**My last month has been so crammed with stuff - Alice, concerts, rehearsals, thxgiving, etc - Now it's coming to an end so I can write more frequently!**

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><p><strong>Jo<strong>

Jo felt comfortable, but strangely warm. She could've sworn the blankets were off her when she fell asleep, which had been….when? The last thing she remembered was crying, and talking about…something….

_Mmm…I could sleep here forever. _

Suddenly, the warmth disappeared for a second. Her arm patted the pillow next to her, but it wasn't there. She tried grabbing for the hem of the pillowcase, like she did whenever she pushed them off of her bed.

She caught a piece of cloth and pulled it towards. _How curious…It's putting up a fuss. Perhaps I should pull harder, _she thought sleepily.

She held on tightly and rolled over, pulling the cloth with her. There was a short tearing noise and a weight fell on the bed, bouncing Jo up and down.

'Uff,' she heard a voice grunt. Jo opened her eyes quickly. She turned to see Fred pulling himself out of the bed with difficulty. _Oh, I forgot he was here. _She snuggled back into her pillow happily, pressing her face into her bed, her dark hair circling around her like the sun's rays. Her eyes popped open.

_Fred? What is he doing in here?_ Thankfully for Fred, she wasn't on attack mode, therefore allowing the thought to register in her brain before killing the redhead. Jo turned slightly to see whether Fred could see her and saw him standing up, looking straight at her. _He really listened to everything, didn't he? I didn't know he could be so kind._

'Hi,' she said quietly.

'Hey,' he replied. 'I'm just…' Fred gestured to his blue shirt which was rather wet looking over his chest.

_Oh…that was probably because of me, _Jo thought and blushed a deep red. Fred noticed her look away embarrassedly and grabbed her arm.

'It's alright – you were upset and you let it out, that's all. I'm just relieved you actually did. If you'd held it in any longer you probably would've died! It's really early in the morning, and if I don't get back to my flat, George is going to think I…did something stupid.' Fred looked at her almost apologetically, biting his lip.

Jo widened her eyes and wanted to kick Fred for even thinking such a thing, but ended up bursting into laughter. Fred took another glance to make sure she wasn't mad and laughed along with her. The way his blue eyes sparkled when he smiled gave Jo a rush of affection for him. All the weight that had been on her shoulders had lifted temporarily and suddenly she didn't feel an inkling of anger or indignity. She stepped up to him and gave him a hug. Fred stepped back for a second, but slowly put his arms around her back and held her closer. She stepped back after a moment and held his hand.

'Thank you Fred,' she whispered. 'I really needed someone to talk to. I'm sorry for being so mean to you when all you've wanted to do was be friends. I was just scared and upset about everything. If you'd like to tell me more about magic, you can, but…' she let out in a burst.

Fred smiled as he heard this confession but stopped when Jo cut off her sentence.

'But what?' he inquired.

'I was wondering…Don't think me rude or anything…Could you show me some _real_ magic?' Jo asked hesitantly.

Fred raised his eyebrow and gave her a quizzical look.

'Do you not believe in me?' he said, faking a pouty look. Jo raised her eyebrow back at him.

'Really?' Fred asked, surprised. 'Alright, I'll prove it.'

**Fred**

Fred was honestly surprised that Jo still didn't believe in magic. After everything he had told her, she still wanted proof! Maybe she was just confirming what she already thought.

'Alright, I'll prove it.'

He slowly pulled his wand out of his back pocket, smiling when he thought of Moody's tale of the wizard who lost a buttock.

'Well, what is it you want me to do?' he asked Jo who looked zoned out.

'Wait…Is that a wand? It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen in books or on magic show posters,' Jo said fascinated. Fred gingerly placed it in her hands and let her examine it. She waved it around, pointing it at Fred with a grin plastered on her face.

'ABRA KADABRA!' she shouted.

Fred hated to admit it, but he let out a very unmanly shriek. Using his Quidditch reflexes, he ducked, but no green spell _whooshed_ over him. He looked up to see what Jo was doing and saw her panicking, looking around for something.

He turned his head to see what she was looking at and saw her door on fire.

'Where's my fire extinguisher?' she screamed. 'Damn, I left it in the kitchen!'

Fred leapt up to grab his wand but hesitated.

'What's a fire thingamummy?'

'You know…the thing I…er…hit your legs with…'

'Are you trying to tell me you get rid of fire with a deadly weapon?' he yelled at her.

She grimaced and proceeded to yelp when the fire let a crackle. Fred remembered the wand in his hand and rolled his eyes. With a flick of his wand, the door stood undamaged and back to normal. While he was at it he made her bed and cleaned his shirt.

'_Scourgify_.'

Jo's eyes grew until they were the size of saucers.

'Oh…my…God!' she yelled. 'That thing – magic – your school – house – thing – wand – IT'S ALL REAL!'

Fred nodded mutely and tucked his wand back into his jeans.

'It sure is. As a matter of fact, the spell you used…er…If that's even a real spell – It sounds like a curse that's really dangerous.' Fred told her.

'WOW! Er…Sorry about the dangerous spell…But at least people will be scared of me – your people – if I "use" it against them. It's actually common fake magic language in our world,' she chuckled.

Suddenly her face became confused, then extremely excited.

'Wait…Your wand made the door catch on fire – does that mean I can do magic too?' she cried hopefully.

Fred pondered the question and remembered an earlier conversation he'd had with Ron.

'Well, I don't think that you were really doing magic. My brother's friend, Dean Thomas – He's a muggleborn, we think – His younger sister, who's non-magical, tried waving his wand and it didn't really do what she wanted…I think it let out fire as well…' he said.

'Oh,' Jo said, her face falling. 'That's too bad. It would have been so _awesome_.'

Fred smiled. He knew how it felt to have the power of magic in him.

'I suppose you'd best be going now,' Jo said sadly.

'What's the matter?'

'Nothing. It's just, you know, nice to have company every now and then…'

'I can probably come over sometime soon…maybe in a few days,' Fred automatically suggested.

'Really? That would be great! I get really lonely around here, and now I'm going to be piled on with work,' Jo said happily.

**Jo**

Fred left soon after and left Jo to go back to sleep. She found that rather pointless as it was almost four in the morning. She smiled to herself when she thought of the tall redhead.

_I bet he thinks I'm really bipolar or something. From hating his presence to asking him for it? It seemed a bit extreme and plain old strange. Oh well – he wasn't complaining._

Jo was about to get back in her bed when her arm tugged back. Jo cried out in pain.

'Damn this stupid arm!' she exclaimed. The strap of her sling had caught on the knob of her bed-stand drawer. She impatiently detangled it and sat down on her bed, tired of the hindrance.

Suddenly an idea popped into her head. _Fred can fix my arm! Wait a second…I think I already thought about that the other night…that's why I ran out of my room. _She thought about why she hadn't known where he went, but now she knew. Fred had simply turned on the spot and disappeared in thin air. She wondered what it would be like to travel like that…if it even counted as traveling.

Jo closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep, but it was too difficult. She took a deep breath and looked at herself. She looked like a complete mess. It was time to fix her life and get things in order. She picked up the pile of papers that Fred put on her bed-stand and threw them into the trash. She made her bed and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. _I'll take the job in the bakery. It'll be more fun and relaxing – not running after some fat overpaid sleaze I'. _She sat down at her table and set to work.

**Fred**

As soon as he arrived in his room in his and George's flat, he fist-pumped and let out a great whoop. Jo herself had asked him to meet her again. And hugged him. Twice. Could life be any sweeter? He walked out of his room, looking like a fool in love no doubt. George, who was sitting at his desk scribbling on a piece of parchment, raised an eyebrow at him.

'Fun time? You're home late,' he said.

'You're up late,' Fred replied lamely. He _was_ surprised George stayed up that late working.

'What did you two get up to, eh?' he asked.

'Actually, she was quite happy to see me. She hugged me, and lay down with me, and held my hand  
>and-' he started.<p>

'Whoa, back track. She hugged you? Slept with you?'

'Not slept, pervert. She was crying and I comforted her and she fell asleep next to me. Satisfied? Actually, I am quite pleased with myself,' he added with a grin.

'Well, lookie here! Freddie's getting a move on,' George laughed.

'She set her door on fire when she was playing around with my wand, and when I set it out and did some other cool tricks she could not believe her eyes! She was practically begging to be a witch when I was done!' he exaggerated. Fred got so caught up with his story telling that he completely forgot who he was talking to. 'Oh, shit.'

'YOU ACTUALLY SHOWED HER MAGIC? Of all the stupid things to do, you actually decided to prove your "charm" and "suave tricks"? How much troll blood is in you?' George exploded. 'You know what? I've already had this discussion with you, and I don't feel like having it again. You do what you want with your life and your bird, but if _anything_ comes close to affecting our family…' he left off dangerously.

'George, I-'

'I have a letter to finish Fred. Goodnight.'

'Ughhhh.'

**Jo**

Satisfied with her work, Jo sat in her chair. Her whole apartment was sparkling clean and her list of life improvements was almost two pages back and front. She took a deep breath and took a look at the clock on her counter. She jumped up in the air and scrambled to get dressed; it was almost ten o'clock in the morning.

In fifteen minutes she was dressed in her woolies and ready to go to the bakery. She stuck her hand in the pocket of her jeans and rolled her shoulders back. It was a new day and time to set things straight. Right before she opened her door she remembered to take her purse with her. Jo passed by her fridge where the list was pinned and a tiny scribble in the margin caught her eye. _Get a boyfriend _it said. Jo rolled her eyes at herself, wondering how she had gotten to the point where romance was put on her list. _A bit of spark won't do you any harm, Josephina,_ the voice in her head said. Jo smiled and left her room.

The weather outside was cold as ever and it seemed like even more men were out on the streets shoveling snow off of pathways. Jo kicked a few stray pebbles, soaking in the cold air and continued on her way. The telltale jingle of the door brought Mrs. Garden to the counter to greet the customer. Jo waved when she entered.

'Good morning,' she said brightly.

'Good morning to you too darling. Did you get any replies from any other places?' Mrs. Garden asked.

'No, I mean…I could've probably gotten in, but I thought working here would be my best bet.'

'Of course you did,' Mrs. Garden said fondly. 'Alright, come on over and I'll show you what to do. I daresay you already know enough about our price system and working the cash register.'

'Mmm,' Jo replied, peering into one of the glass panes. There was a small carrot cake on display and the grated orange vegetable reminded her of Fred's flaming auburn hair and she smiled to herself. _What's gotten into you, you little softie? _Jo pursed her lips but ended up grinning even wider.

'…And here's where the bags are for the smaller items – don't forget to wrap them up before you gi-,' Mrs. Garden paused, noticing Jo's eyes glazed over and the wide smile. 'Hmm. You have a boy on your mind, do you?'

That brought Jo back to earth.

'What? N-No, no…sorry about that,' Jo said apologetically.

'Liar,' Mrs. Garden muttered good-naturedly. She had seen many a moon-eyed girl in her time.

The older woman continued explaining the different items and prices to Jo, quite aware of the little fib that kept her distracted.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it - I wanted the romance to play in a bit - next one has a bit of George and more fluffish stuff :)<strong>

**Please please please review :) I love to hear any comments or suggestions! **

**Like I said last time, if you add me to an alert, could you leave a review - it just makes my day :PP**

**Sammy-U**


	8. Love and Danger Flash Red

**Hello lovely readers! A week as promised, but GUESS WHAT? I have already written my next chapter, but still, I think I'll wait a week for most chapters so i can always be a chapter ahead - it's a good feeling:)) **

**I like this chapter and it's where the feelings start to kick in XDD**

**Hope you like it!**

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><p><strong>Fred<strong>

Fred woke up disgruntled. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been in telling George about Jo. He unconsciously ran a hand through his already messed up hair and walked towards the bathroom. He brushed his teeth slowly and his thoughts returned to the previous night. At first, seeing Jo in the paper shop was like playing a game, seeing how many young girls he and George could wink at and have them respond with giggles.

Jo was different. First of all she was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever met. Her eyes were…indescribable. She always had a smile on her face, even if it was small, but there was a sort of closed look about her, like she had her own problems that only she dealt with. And there was also Fred's feeling that she would understand magic. All of these combined definitely made her the most interesting girl he'd ever seen.

But after the last night, he was sure that she had opened up to him and revealed her troubles. She seemed a bit more open about her emotions and even (he hoped) rid herself of the dislike of Fred she harboured.

Fred grunted as he stretched and he hopped out of his bed. He peeked into George's room to see if he was awake and saw the bed made.

'Damn,' he said grumpily. George awake meant Fred having to receive the silent treatment all morning. He went back to his room to get ready for the day and when he walked out, he was wearing a crisp yellow shirt and khakis and he had his magenta work over his shoulder. He walked down the stairs to the middle floor of their building and found George reading the _Daily Prophet _and ignoring the half piece of toast on his plate.

'Morning,' Fred said cheerily, trying to lighten the mood. He hung up the robes next to his twin's and walked up behind him to see what he was reading.

'_Death Eaters attack Muggle village near Ottery St. Catchpole,_' Fred read out. 'Wait a minute – that was the one we were at! Is there anything about who was there and who helped out?'

He peered closed to look at the fine print. Attacks on Muggle towns were getting more and more frequent and harmful; no doubt the rest of the newspaper was full of other recent outbreaks.

_"Many Muggles were saved due to immediate response from Aurors and nearby wizards. Fifteen Muggles and two wizards were injured during the attack and Memory Charms have already been placed on the few that escaped the Death Eaters attack. Some injured Muggles are still recovering in St. Mungo's but they have scheduled appointments for memory removal. Experienced Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt recalls: 'They were completely undefended, and if it weren't for the immediate response of our Aurors, then even more would've been injured.' Rumour has it that the two now-famous Weasley twins were present at the time of the attack and assisted in fighting off followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Archibald Miller, a Squib working at the village alerted the Ministry of the attack as soon as he saw the Death Eaters coming, but was seen hurrying out himself after talking to a hooded figure. He has been taken in to custody to interrogate about his interaction with Death Eaters. How did he know when the Death Eaters were coming? Is he a spy or secret follower? Keep posted to hear more about the upcoming trials of many supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."_

'Well, what do you know, we made the _Daily Prophet_,' Fred in a faux cheery voice. The content of the article had definitely dampened Fred's spirit. For the first time that morning, George looked up at Fred.

'Good morning to you too,' he said. There was a sort of smug look about him that Fred wasn't sure why it was there. It almost looked…superior. Fred expected it would be a look he'd be getting frequently given his current situation. It wasn't even fair - Fred was born three minutes before his twin.

'Well, I'm done eating if you want to read the paper – I have to send a letter out,' he said briskly. Fred shook his head at the absurdity of his brother's behaviour and sat down at the table. George got up and went to the cage that held the twins' owl, Sirius, who was named after Harry's godfather. The owl ruffled his black feathers and nipped at George's hand affectionately.

'I want you to take this to….' George whispered the last part. Fred leaned closer instinctively but the only thing he caught was: '-clair. I expect you've sent a message there before,' George finished louder.

Fred turned his head back inconspicuously to hide his eavesdropping and returned to his breakfast.

**Jo**

After Mrs Garden showed her all the kinks of working in the store, Jo went to the back room to change into the store's pink collared shirt. When she returned, Mrs Garden had a small light green apron to go over her outfit. The colours reminded her of springtime and Jo longed for the season to arrive quickly.

'Mrs Garden, I love these colours you've picked out for the outfit,' Jo said brightly.

'Ah, me too. It quite describes my name now doesn't it? The name of the store as well,' Mrs Garden replied equally happy. She was pleased with her new employee – it was someone she could trust well. 'Well, our first customers will be coming in soon. It's opening time.'

The older lady bustled over to the front and turned over the "closed" sign so that it read "open." Within five minutes two twins walked in with their strawberry-blonde hair in pigtails and wearing identical outfits. Jo had seen them in the bakery often before and would wave and smile back at them when they did.

'We'd like-,' the one on the left started.

'Six strawberry macrons,' the other one continued.

'Three pieces of chocolate cake-'

'And two cups of hot cocoa.'

Jo smiled at their synchronization and quickly set off to work. While she put the items neatly into little boxes and into a large bag, she watched the two girls goof off with each other and laugh at the other's joke. Their behaviour was very similar to that of the red-head twins.

_Thinking about them again? _Jo thought to herself. _What's up?_

_Hey, it's no big deal,' _she argued with herself. _You're going to see him tomorrow! You can't help thinking about him._

_Him? Did George just disappear out of this equation? _

_No, I was just-_

_Too busy thinking about Fred. _

_Oh shut up. _

Jo looked back over at the two girls and waved them over, not sure of what to call them. Jo thought it was pretty rude of her to call them this and that in her mind.

'What are your names?' Jo asked.

'She's Georgina-'one started, pointing to the other.

'-and she's Fredericka,' Georgina said, pointing to Claiborne.

Jo tried not to stare.

'So for short you go by-,'

'Freddie and Georgie,' Georgina said matter-of-factly. It took some immense self-control not to gape and let her jaw drop. _Fred and George. Really, this is absolutely ridiculous. They even have nearly red hair. And the matching outfits? God, what is going on? Are they just destined to be in my life?_

'You both have lovely names,' Jo smiled. She was quite proud of her own long name and was always pleased when she saw other girls with fancy names.

The hot cocoa would take another couple of minutes to heat so Jo decided to strike up a conversation with the twins.

'So, how old are you?' she asked.

'We're going to be eight in two months and three days,' said Freddie. 'Mummy and we live right across the street, and she said it was alright if we came and got some sweets. We're having a tea party with our friend Leigh.'

'I see…don't you want to get a cup of cocoa for Leigh too?' she asked.

'We only have enough money for two,' Georgie said truthfully.

'I see,' Jo said. 'How are you three enjoying your hols?'

'They're going great,' Freddie said. 'We've been spending a lot of time with Mummy, and Leigh came to visit us for the New Year.'

'The three of us go to the same boarding school,' George said, trying to peek over the counter to see the hot cocoa. Just then the timer _ding_ed and Jo went to turn off the stove. As she poured it out into the cups, she saw there was just enough for a third cup. Deciding it was no big deal to give out the extras, she poured the last bit into a third cup. Jo made sure to put a good size swirl of whipped cream in each cup before putting the lids on.

'Here you go girls,' Jo said. 'There's a third cocoa there for Leigh. No doubt she's as nice as you,' she added with a whisper.

The girls beamed and smiled wide at Jo.

'Thanks so much!' they whispered loudly, as though trying to keep a secret.

'You're welcome,' Jo replied in the same tone. She waved the twins out the door and it shut with its merry jingle.

**Fred**

The day went on as usual, with an even fuller crowd of customers. Winter break was a great time for students and adults alike to stock up on their joke merchandise. It was near closing time when the last customer came up with about a hundred Galleons worth of products. It took nearly half an hour to get everything on the bill and the customer out. The last customer was a familiar face.

'Dung, what are you doing here? I thought you were broke or something,' Fred laughed.

'I was, but I went to this place, down by where you blokes live and I found some Muggle money. Must be worth something, eh?' Mundungus chuckled.

'Well Dung, since you're actually sober for a change, let's see what you've got.'

Mundungus pulled out a large wad of Muggle money and passed it over to Fred.

'Whoa, where did you say you got this from?' Fred asked incredulously. It looked like it would have taken months to collect as much.

'Like I told you, that village near your place. There was some lass lying down, and the place was in flames, so I thought, what the hell?'

'Was it on the day of the attack?'

'Yeah…I think it was some sort of store…smelt terrible…like parchment or something…'

_Parchment? Fire? Sounds like - Sounds like Jo's store! _Fred realized. Hadn't Jo been crying about how someone had stolen all the money in her cash register and that they seemed drunk?

'Dung,' Fred started slowly. 'You know that's robbery, right?'

'Uh? Oh, yeah.'

'Then I can't let you buy anything from my store.'

'What?'

'You heard me. Get out!' Fred tried to sound good natured but found it very difficult. He walked up next to the thief and gave him a push towards the door.

'What about my money?' he cried.

'It's not yours,' Fred shouted back. 'Come back when you've earned your own dough!'

He sighed. Fred liked Dung, but he could be an idiot sometimes. Exhausted, he turned around the "open" sign and turned it to "closed." With a flick of his wand, the lights around the store turned off and he locked the door. Fred tromped up the stairs and hung up his robes. George was already there with a cup of coffee in his hand.

'I made one for you too,' George said.

'Thanks. We should get a move on with some new products,' said Fred. 'We want to make a good impression on Hogwarts students when we take over Zonko's.'

George snorted.

'Right. Has Sirius come back yet?'

'Not that I know of,' replied Fred.

'Oh.'

'Why-?'

'I was just wondering if the reply would come back soon.'

'Okay,' Fred said suspiciously.

**Jo**

Jo went home satisfied. Most of the customers wore smiles on their faces as they left which meant that Jo had succeeded in doing her job properly. During her lunch break she walked across the store to grab a sandwich and saw Fredericka and Georgina playing hopscotch with a girl Jo assumed was Leigh. They looked up and saw Jo looking at them and waved. Jo smiled back at them and resumed her walk to the deli. A small part of her wanted the girls to return often so she could talk to them more. They reminded her of Fred and George and were also cute company.

Jo sat down on her small sofa contentedly and heard an impatient hoot outside her window. Opening it she saw a black owl with a letter tied to its leg. _It must be from Fred._

She untied the scroll from the leg of the owl and opened it.

_Dear Jo,_

_I couldn't help thinking about this after I left. Do you really believe in magic or do you think it's all made up nonsense? Write back soon – can't wait to see you later._

_Fred_

Jo read it, surprised. How could she not believe in magic when he flaunted it in front of her very eyes? It wasn't as though he could have faked all of those…feats without something special. At least, Jo hadn't seen anything like it, just like the fireworks were amazing.

She decided to write back telling him exactly what she thought until she noticed something strange. Digging under all the papers on her desk she found the old letter that Fred had first sent. The handwriting was almost exactly the same, except the way they wrote their "a's" was different. Fred's were more cursive whereas the ones in this letter were more like print "a's."

Frowning, Jo examined both letters carefully before a light bulb went off in her head. _George must have written it! I know Fred said George wasn't so happy with Fred, so he must have found out about me knowing about magic!. _

Jo decided to keep Fred in George's good books and got a pen to write her letter with. She was careful not to reveal that she knew who wrote the letter.

_Dear Fred,_

_Of course I didn't _really_ believe a thing. I stopped believing in magic when I was a young kid._

_Jo_

To Fred, she wrote a different letter, reassuring him.

_Dear Fred,_

_If George says I don't believe in magic, don't listen to him. I _DO_ believe in it. Let's just say I'm showing him some of my tricks!_

_Love,  
>Jo<em>

_P.S. Let's meet on the day after tomorrow – I work at the Garden Bakery – it's pretty close to my apartment. I'm sure you'll find your way there ;)_

Happy with her letters, she turned to the owl who sat patiently on the windowsill.

'Er…I don't know if you can understand me,' Jo started awkwardly. The bird tilted its head as though saying "yes I can." 'Well…this letter is for George – and this one is for Fred. Make sure they get the right one.'

She labelled them with different colours which she explained to the owl. It hooted and flew out the window, disappearing in the dark sky.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? Next one up either on Tuesday or Friday :)<strong>

**PLEASE REVIEW! If you add me to an alert, once more I'll tell you, please review :) It helps me become a better writer, and any constructive criticism is cool too :) Reviews make my day!**

**Bye my loverlies,**

**Sammy-U**


	9. Getting Ready

**Hi loves :) I'm back, and early too! I'm leaving on break next week and wanted you guys to keep reading - next chappie is in the makings and will be LONG like this one, but only up probably next week :(**

**Big shout outs to nperson123 and Misplaced Levity for leaving lovely reviews! You guys are awesome!**

**Hope you enjoy this! not Rowling :(**

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><p><strong>Getting Ready<strong>

**Fred**

Fred and George were sitting at the breakfast table when Sirius tapped on their window looking exhausted. He flew in and placed one letter in front of George and the other before Fred. Both of them paused their eating and tore open their letters, scanning them in a matter of seconds. Both of them reacted at the same time.

'Ha,' yelled George triumphantly.

'Yes!' shouted Fred.

'Wait what does yours say?' Fred said gleefully.

'Oh, only that Jo _does not believe in magic!' _George shot back, smirking.

'_Really?' _Fred asked, grinning. 'Then you should look at mine.'

Each of them grabbed the others and read them. Fred roared with laughter. George, on the other hand, turned a deep red and frowned in frustration.

'Ugh! She really does then?' he groaned.

'Yep - Wait…why is her letter to you addressed to Fred?' Fred said suspiciously.

'Erm…I wrote my letter to her as you so she would reply honestly, which she didn't, obviously,' George said uncomfortably.

If the letter were written to anyone else and had worse results, Fred would've gotten upset. However, given the situation, he laughed even harder.

'She really got you there didn't she, George?' he said contented.

'Yeah, yeah…Did you notice how nice her letter to you was? And how she couldn't wait to see you tomorrow, Love, Jo?' George said teasingly.

'As a matter of fact, I did. Why…are you jealous?' Fred replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

'No.'

'Good, because she's mine.'

'Little love-sick dove.'

'Aw, do you really think I don't know how you look at Lee?' Fred said jokingly, his voice dripping with sugar.

'You bastard! Take that back!' George yelled good-naturedly. He started chasing Fred around their apartment shooting little hexes at him.

At that precise moment, Lee Jordan decided to Apparate right into their sitting room.

'What is going on here?' he asked bewildered.

'George here was just admiring how beautiful your dreads are,' Fred said mock seriously while George continued throwing hexes which were dangerously close to both Fred and Lee.

'Wha-?'

Suddenly Lee vanished in a poof of smoke, and when he resurfaced, his hair was bright orange and growing longer and wavy, like a woman's. George ran up to them realizing what he'd done.

'Oops.'

Even Lee couldn't help but laugh hysterically.

**Jo**

Jo put on her usual work shirt and jeans and smeared on some old pink lip gloss. The meeting (she refused to call it a date yet) had been on her mind since the previous day. Sighing, she pushed through the few hangers on her rack for a decent dress to wear tomorrow and saw a few nice, but extremely worn frocks. It'd been at least four months since she had bought any new clothes. Sometimes she really wished she'd come across a stroke of luck that would shower pounds on her so she wouldn't have to be so frugal.

Disgruntled, she threw on her sweater and headed down the street to work. It was snowing ever so gently but few people were out. She hoped there'd be lots of customers that day; Jo was enjoying her new job very much so far.

Unfortunately Mrs. Garden wasn't feeling to well, so Jo could only really sell what was on display as the older lady didn't want to get others sick.

A few mothers came in to buy bread for their families and a dozen of children came in to buy sweets, but other than that, business was slow and to be honest, rather boring. The only part of it that lightened her day was seeing Freddie and Georgina. They came and stayed for at least a quarter of an hour talking about films and princesses and fun girly things. After they left though, the cloud of gloom came over Jo once more.

Tomorrow would be a fun day, though, because of New Year's Eve. At least fifteen households and companies had ordered customized cakes for the occasion. Thankfully Mrs. Garden had already baked them and just had to put the frosting for one more.

'Dear, would you mind helping me finish that cake tomorrow?' Mrs. Garden called before Jo left the store.

'Oh, I'd love to help! I get off at twelve, so I'll try to help out as much as possible,' Jo smiled back.

'Thank you darling.'

Jo exited the building and started home. Walking around town had become a nice habit and pleasure for her. Simply for the fun of it, Jo walked into a chocolate store, a wool clothing store, a perfume shop and an ornament store, admiring everything. _Not that I really have anyone to buy anything for,_ Jo thought sadly. After having her fill of the tester chocolate and her nose full of the scent of wonderful perfumes, she continued home.

At her house, the tapping noise came again, and without feeling too surprised, she opened the window to let the little bird come in. This time it looked haggard from the heavy package Fred sent her. _What could it be now?_

Tearing open the envelope, Jo almost fainted when she saw the amount of money that came out of the paper. Tens and hundreds of pounds fell out. After she had overcome the shock, she counted the money. It came out to four thousand and two hundred pounds. She looked to see if there was a note written that came from Fred. Jo found a small scrap that read:

_Found this in the hand of a drunken wizard. Use it well! But, then again, it's yours isn't it?_

The truth dawned on Jo. It was the money that the stranger had taken from the store's cash register! At first, Jo was unsure of whether to take the money or whether to consult with her boss before using it. Her mind traveled back to an older conversation they'd had a couple of months before the attack.

'_Josephina darling, any money that you earn is yours. I'm getting to be an old man. You run this store, and I trust you to do what's right.'_

Jo decided it was alright with her to use the money, but just to be safe she separated a pile for Mr. Watson and locked it up with the rest of the money, save whatever she needed for her wallet.

_It's funny that just when I'm thinking about lack of money I suddenly get a ton,_ Jo thought happily. Putting her wallet in her purse, she went out her apartment to buy herself a new dress.

The store nearest to her was for women, but their prices were bloody ridiculous. She passed on until she saw a nice store that caught her eye with all of its colourful material. Jo walked in and was immediately overwhelmed with all of the beautiful dresses and blouses in the shop.

A woman working in the store came up to her.

'Can I help you with anything?' she asked.

'Well…I was looking for a nice dress,' Jo started. The woman smiled instantaneously and pulled Jo over to a section that had vibrant dresses, from short sleeveless ones to elegant floor length ones.

'I think the pinks, reds and oranges would probably suit you best,' the woman said, examining the racks. 'What's the occasion?'

'Er…a date?' Jo replied awkwardly. The woman laughed at her response.

'We have some good ones with short sleeves that go down past the knees if that's what you're looking for,' the woman said. Clearly she'd been working in the store for a while and knew what her customers were looking for. She left Jo to examine the products and went to help another lady.

Jo pulled out an eye-catching pink, orange and yellow dress. They all had flowers and little designs on them but after trying them on, the pink and yellow dresses definitely looked better. Holding each dress up sadly, played eenie-meenie-minie-mo and picked the pink one.

She walked up to the cash register holding both dresses when the lady who'd helped her earlier called,

'Oh, just so you know, the dresses on that rack were half off!'

Jo's face lit up at once and she made the executive decision to purchase both dresses and think of it as her personal Christmas gift.

She walked home contentedly, knowing she had good clothes to wear the next day. _Goodness, you really are getting serious about this, aren't you? I mean, being worried about the clothes and all?_

**Fred**

The next morning Fred was up early. It was their day off, seeing hardly anyone would be coming to buy anything on New-Year's Eve. George decided to handle the families picking up enormous fireworks for the occasion.

'Hey, George, how about this one?' Fred called to his brother, fixing the last button on his blue shirt.

'Nah…You'd look too dim next to Jo,' George said seriously.

'Eyes off! She's my girlfriend, not yours,' Fred replied giving his brother a dirty look.

'Oh come on. Try the yellow one.'

'I did and you didn't like it. Er…how about this one?'

'No.'

'Yes.'

'_No.'_

'_YES!'_

Minutes later, Fred was strolling around their apartment wearing a bright pink shirt and khakis.

**Jo**

_Today's the big day!_ Jo thought excited. She'd be dropping in to the bakery to help frost the last cake and then, hopefully, Fred would pick her up and they'd go out.

She picked out the pink dress for the date and pulled it over her head gently. _If only that damn arm didn't hurt so much._ Hopefully Mrs. Garden didn't expect too much from Jo with the frosting. Jo would probably just be putting on the fondant decorations anyway.

She carefully arranged her long black hair in a bun and pulled her bright pink cap over her head. She slipped on her dark green cardigan and wrapped a scarf around her neck. _Alright, I'm ready to go._

There was a slight spring in her step as she walked down to the bakery. Mrs. Garden was unlocking the door just as Jo walked in. Jo stepped in and wished Mrs. Garden a happy New-Year's Eve.

'Well, I suppose we should get to the frosting,' said Jo.

'Yes, yes...If any customers come though, you're in charge. I don't want you to try doing anything silly with your arm,' Mrs. Garden replied. Jo breathed a sigh of relief and went behind the counter, putting in a few pieces of cake and some biscuits.

For the first hour of work there were no customers, so Jo helped cut out the decorative pieces of fondant that adorned the cakes being finished. Jo's personal favourite were the little fireworks that took time and patience to put together, but looked amazing in the end.

By eleven o'clock, the cakes were done and Mrs. Garden dusted off her hands on her already frosting covered apron. Jo helped put them in boxes and label them with the appropriate names and companies to whom which they belonged.

Jo was starting to get antsy as eleven o'clock turned to noon. At five past, Fred still wasn't there, but a jingling of the door revealed Freddie and Georgia.

'Hello girls!' Jo beamed. Despite her boss being there, she was starting to get bored.

'Jo, you look _lovely!' _exclaimed Freddie. Jo had noticed that Freddie had more freckles than Georgina and Georgina was just a tad shorter, making it easier to distinguish them when they were together. If they were alone, chances would be slim that Jo could tell who was who, but they seemed like the type of twins who were inseparable.

'Yeah, you look great!' continued Georgina.

'Thanks, loves. You don't look all too bad yourselves, now do you?' Jo replied admiring their pretty frocks. The two girls giggled and came up to pick out their daily dose of sugar.

'So, what will you two have today?' she asked, looking down to see what _was_ on display.

'I'm here for something sweet today,' said a deeper, familiar voice. Jo looked up, surprised.

'Fred!'

**Fred**

Fred was running late. He had said noon, but it was already five past. He ran down the street into Diagon Alley and stopped by a small floral shop that sold enchanted flowers. He picked a bunch of light pink roses that bloomed and had pieces of chocolate in them. _Any girl would love this._ He thought a minute before amending his thought. _No…Jo would love this._

He hastily paid the old man who owned the shop and Apparated into a small alleyway near Jo's apartment. He walked for a few minutes, soaking in the neat little town while trying to spot the bakery. After a few more minutes, he spotted a small but pretty shop that said "Garden Bakery" over it. He looked through the window and his heart leapt when he saw Jo leaning over, talking to a couple of young girls. He walked in quietly, trying to sneak up on them. He only heard "What will you two have today?" before responding.

'Fred!' exclaimed Jo.

**Jo/Fred**

Jo blushed a tiny bit at Fred's joke and said:

'Actually, I was talking to Freddie and Georgie here,' she said slyly.

'Is that so? Well, you already know what I want,' Fred asked smoothly, trying to keep his "cool guy" look on in front of his audience. The two young girls giggled and looked at each other knowingly. _They're only, like what…seven? What do they know? _Fred thought defiantly.

_What is he playing at? _Jo thought to herself. _I know we said date and friends, but really? _

_Oh, come off it Jo. You know you like it, _the voice returned.

_Fine. Be that way. _

'So, Freddie and Georgie, eh? How do you know Jo?' Fred asked.

'We've come here for the past few days and talk to her,' one said.

'Yeah! She's _loads_ of fun!' the other said.

Jo was secretly proud of the praise being given to her. The two girls were the little-sister type, and Jo found her relationship with them pretty cute. Fred apparently thought so too; his grin gave it away.

'Well I can't wait to find out how so,' he replied, waggling his eyebrows at Jo.

'Oh, shut up,' she mouthed. 'They're _seven!_'

He just winked back. The twins just frowned slightly but ended up smiling anyway.  
>'Freddie and Georgie are frequent customers here, and quite pleasant company,' Jo said sweetly.<p>

'Fred and George, eh?' Fred said, raising his eyebrows, impressed. 'My twin and I are a Fred and George as well.'

The two looked at each other, amazed. Jo smiled at their awe.

'Here, I'll show you a picture,' Fred said, getting out his wallet.

Jo looked at the photo. It was a picture of the two of them laughing together, and for a split-second it looked as though they were moving. Fred's face paled for a second before he snatched back the picture.

'Whoops…wrong one,' he said, his voice concealing any panic he might have had. He turned around and cast a quick charm on it so it didn't move while Jo and the girls exchanged confused glances.

'There we go,' he turned around. The two looked identical, even wearing the same shirts. Jo decided to test herself. She examined the photo for a minute.

'So…this one…is…you, and the other one is George,' Jo said slowly.

'What? Jo, you actually got it right! No one has ever gotten it on their first try before – except Hermione…I'll tell you about her, she's just like you. Same temper too,' Fred added bravely. Jo smacked him on the arm. 'Ow! So, how could you tell?'

'You both have blue eyes, but you have a little ring of darker blue around yours, whereas George doesn't,' Jo explained. Fred looked at her impressed. 'Oh, and George has more freckles than you.'

'Well, well. Our Jo here's quite the private eye, eh? No pun intended,' Fred said smiling. 'Anyway, are you ready to go?'

'Not quite yet. If I recall correctly, you were the one who was late, and now I have two customers waiting to order their food,' Jo said smartly, turning around to face the girls. 'What'll you have?'

'Er…Just a loaf of bread, Jo,' Freddie said.

'But Mummy said -,' Georgina started.

'Shhh!' Freddie put her finger to her lips.

'I thought we -.' Georgina started again.

'No!' Freddie interrupted again, glancing pointedly at Fred and Jo

'Wait a second! Didn't your mum order one of our cakes?' Jo asked, breaking the two girls apart.

'Oh...yeah. It's probably under the name Sanders,' said Freddie sheepishly. Georgina pouted at Freddie before the latter took her aside and whispered something in her ear. Georgina grinned widely and looked knowingly at Jo. Jo simply looked back, amused at the girls' antics. She went to the back of the store to grab the cake marked with their names and brought it out to the front. It was a rather large cake, and the girls were bound to have trouble carrying such a large item. She placed it in Fred's arms to his surprise.

'You are going to take this to their house and give it to their mother. I'll get your loaf in a moment,' she added to Georgina.

Once the children had paid off, they took to their house with Fred. She saw Fred shake hands jovially with each twin before running back across the road. He nearly got hit by a car that pressed its horn loudly after Fred looked up apologetically.

'Damn, those Mu-people are quite aggressive, aren't they?' Fred said as he walked in the door.

'No, you just happened to cross the street where there wasn't a crosswalk and you did it in the middle of traffic,' Jo responded matter-of-factly.

'I get a lot of traffic where I'm from, trust me,' said Fred, reminiscing about his store. 'Anyway, are we ready to go?'

Jo pulled off the apron she was wearing and dusted her hands off. She gathered her purse and ran to the back for a second.

'Mrs. Garden, I'm going to leave now!' Jo said.

'That's alright dearie, I'll see you the day after tomorrow,' the woman said, her voice muffled behind he door.

'Shall we?' Fred asked extending his arm.

'We shall,' Jo responded, linking her arm with his.

Just as they left, Fred pulled her aside into a dirty, deserted alleyway.

'Er…Fred…what's going on?' she asked nervously.

'Take my hand,' Fred replied, staring straight into her eyes, penetrating her dark ones with his blue ones. Reluctantly, Jo grasped his hand and-

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><p><strong>I know I'm mean and left you with a cliffhanger, but I wanted the next chapter to finish this part!<strong>

**As always, Reviews make my day! Please let me know what you think!**

**Sammy-U**


	10. England's Wizarding New Year's Festival

**Welcome back, my loves! I'm so sorry for the almost (gasp!) month delay! I went on break and only got to work on this chapter and the next for a while - they're much longer than usual :))) I hope you like them! 10 and 11 are two halves of one part -see the title.**

**Thanks to movinggirl for her awesome advice! She's helped me so much :)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>England's Wizarding New Year's Festival<strong>

**Jo**

-was completely taken by surprise. Fred twisted around on the spot, and Jo experienced the strangest and most uncomfortable feeling. She felt as though she were being compressed into a tiny tube and was trying to be squeezed down to the bottom. Jo felt herself getting breathless and was about to cry out when the sensation stopped as soon as it started.

Jo stood in front of Fred, gasping for air and tears threatening to pour out of her eyes. Fred immediately dropped her hands and grabbed her shoulders.

'Are you alright?' he asked, concern etched across his face.

'Yeah…just a bit…out of breath…One second,' she replied, taking deep breaths in between her statements. Fred ran a hand through his hair almost angrily.

'I knew I shouldn't have tried Apparation first…maybe something like a portkey or Floo…' he rambled to himself. But Jo wasn't paying attention. She'd gotten her breath back and took a good look at where they were.

'Oh…my…God,' she gasped. 'What did you do?'

'Hmm? Oh, you've seen where we are? Well, Jo my dear, welcome to England's Wizarding New Year's Festival!' Fred announced.

'How did we get here?' said Jo, still wondering what they'd done.

'Well, we wizards and witches-,' Fred started.

'Witches and wizards,' said Jo absently, soaking in her surroundings.

'What?'

'Mmm? Sorry – It just flows better.'

'Anyway, we can do this…thing…er…a method of transportation called Apparating. I don't really know how to explain it…You move from one place to another by-,' Fred waved his wand, demonstrating the action.

'It seems like teleportation, which – _Ow!_' Jo cried, holding her arm. 'Hey Fred, while you're amazing me with all of these feats, would you mind mending my arm? This is really starting to irritate me.'

'Er…one second…I do believe I have a spell that can fix it,' Fred said slowly. 'I just hope it isn't the one Lockhart used on Harry that removed all the bones in his arm.'

Jo stared at him and raised her eyebrows.

'I don't know who those people are, but I think I'll just wait it out,' she replied, backing away.

'I was just kidding,' Fred said quickly. 'Here, show it to me.'

Jo reluctantly took her arm out of the sling and showed it to Fred. He muttered a couple of words under his breath and there was a sharp cracking feeling in her arm. She winced, but when she flexed her arm back and forth, the pain was almost gone.

'Wow! Thank you so much Fred! I've actually been meaning to ask you to do that for a while, but you'd have always just left before I could remember!'

'Anytime, Jo.'

'Oh, so, as I was saying, teleportation is a number of theories and ideas concerning the transmission of matter from one point to another without negotiating the physical space between them.'

'Merlin, you are so like Hermione, 'Fred muttered, amused. 'So, let's go for a walk.'

**Fred**

Fred courageously linked his fingers through hers and led her to the center of the party. She didn't resist his touch, but Fred realized it was probably because she was too busy trying to find the source of the irresistibly sweet smells wafting towards them.

'Looks like Honeydukes has made their contribution here,' he said happily, pulling Jo with him to a line of tables.

'Whoa, are these candies?' Jo asked, amazed. Rows and rows of sweets, ranging from decadent chocolates to little sugar mice. 'They look so real!'

Fred smiled.

'Well, let's go for the grand tour so you can see,' he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pouch of what sounded like coins. Fred handed them to the man standing at the front of the ten-yard long table.

'Can we have two tickets for the Honeydukes table?' Fred said, eyeing the ridiculously long line waiting to try the sweets.

'Two tickets,' said the man, looking extremely bored. He looked up only when seeing Fred's face properly. 'I say, you're one of the Weasley twins, aren't you? You two own that store in Diagon Alley, don't you?'

Fred nodded proudly. Some of the people waiting in line looked up at the name and raised their eyebrows in surprise. Soon a vast chunk of the crowd were whispering and pointing at him.

'Actually, I think George is bringing some products today, a limited number. But we're releasing something new today. It's especially good for warding off enemies. You-Know-Who would be in for a surprise. You'd better go quickly before we're out of stock,' Fred said a bit louder; he wanted the people to hear him. He realized he'd have to act fast when most of the crowd went rushing out, trying to find a helper to find the Weasley stall.

'Jo, if you wait one moment, I'll be back very soon, but there is something I need to attend to _immediately_ so we can have this place to ourselves,' Fred said quickly, facing his date. She nodded.

'As long as you come back. I don't wait to get lost here,' Jo said good-naturedly.

'I will, don't worry. To tell you the truth, George isn't actually here testing products…He's in our flat, probably sleeping. I need to talk to him. Oh, and also, that spray that you have,' Fred continued, gesturing to Jo's purse.

'Oh, you mean the mace?'

'Yeah. Where can I find that?'

'Well, there's a department store right next to the bakery that you can find some small bottles. Here's a ten pound note if you need to buy anything,' Jo explained the last part slowly so he'd understand. She placed the money in his hand and smiled.

'Great! I love you Jo,' he called over his shoulder. He turned on the spot with a _crack_.

**Jo**

Never in a million years would she admit it, but when Fred declared his love for her, little shivers went down her spine, even though he wasn't serious. Now she was alone, walking amidst hundreds of people she didn't know.

She took her time looking around at the now-deserted table with chocolates and eyed them longingly. The ticket man watched her like a hawk, but Jo gave him a look that told him she didn't plan on stealing anything. _It's just chocolate…Couldn't they just conjure up some more on the spot?_

Jo walked around trying to find something to do. As tempted as she was to get her future told by a crystal ball, she wasn't so crazy about the appearance of the strange, insect-like woman surreptitiously swigging sherry from a bottle. About a quarter of an hour later, Jo was getting a bit bored of not doing anything, though several people on the streets walked up to her with their sale-pitches.

Tentatively, she followed a couple of girls around her age on a path that led to "Madame Puddifoot's." Jo snickered at the name but continued to follow them nonetheless. As soon as she entered the small tent, she realized trailing them was one of the worst decisions she ever made. Couples everywhere were busy sticking their tongues down the other's throats and the amount of multicoloured confetti floating around was making Jo nauseas. Jo turned around to exit the shop when she walked into an Italian looking boy who appeared around her age.

'Er, excuse me,' Jo said, trying to squeeze her way between him and one of the poles supporting the entrance.

'Are you in some sort of rush or something?' he asked, his breath slightly tainted with the strong smell of whiskey.

'As a matter of fact, I am,' Jo snapped, in no time for fooling around.

'Won't you stay around a little longer?' the boy asked, wrapping his hand around her waist.

'Er…I don't think so,' said Jo firmly, but her resistance was dulled by the fact that the boy was already pressing her up against a wall.

'Come on,' he said, his voice mere inches from her ear. His breath tickled her ear and she tried to push as far away as possible. 'It's New-Year's Eve. Celebration time.'

'No!' Jo said again, struggling to get out of his grip. He leaned forward slowly, pinning her firmly between him and the wall. Jo was sure he was about to snog her brains out when she heard a loud exclamation of pain coming from the boy.

'Dammit! What the bloody hell was that? God, it hurts! I can't see anything!' he shouted, clutching his face. Jo took the opportunity to wriggle out of his grasp and see who rescued her.

**Fred**

'George! George!' Fred shouted as soon as he landed in their flat. 'George we have some work to do!'

'What is it now? I thought you were all mad about me writing to Jo,' George said grumpily, trudging out of his room grumpily.

'I wasn't really mad, and in case you didn't notice, both of us were laughing,' Fred pointed out.

'Oh, right. I only did it because I was worried about you and our family. I knew Jo believed in magic from the start, but I wanted to make sure. Just showing her the card tricks at the store seemed like a game, not so serious, you know? But after you started pursuing her, I knew you were going to go the nine yards and tell her about magic and the details. I guess I was trying to stop you before you did, but I was late. Come to think of it, it probably was pretty stupid to forge a letter after you told me you showed her, and she knew who it was anyway. And since she really does believe in it, there's nothing we can do to make her not believe in it except Obliviate her-'

'No!'

'-which wasn't going to be an option obviously. So, basically, I'm sorry for that whole…deal, but I sure hope you know what you're doing. Otherwise, we're screwed,' finished George. Fred was pretty stunned by the whole monologue, but it was welcome. At the time, Fred wasn't upset at all, but after hearing it in that light, George's actions seemed a bit un-brotherly.

Fred looked his brother up and down. He was wearing nothing but his boxers and Fred sighed, disappointed that he was right about his twin going back to sleep. He pointed his wand and called:

'_Accio_ clothes.' George's clothes landed rather unceremoniously in front of Fred and George hopped into them.

'What is it?' George said, now fully dressed.

'I signed you up to sell a few things at the England's Wizarding New Year's Festival,' Fred said quickly, hoping his brother wouldn't get upset. Contrarily, George's face lit up and he smiled.

'Of course! I forgot that was going on this year!' he exclaimed.

'Er, George…It happens every year,' Fred pointed out.

'Yeah, but especially this year,' George said, making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

'Okay…,' Fred said slowly, a bit confused by the strange reaction. 'Well, help me gather up some Skiving Snackboxes and the works, some Weasley Wet Start Fireworks and some Wonder Witch products,' Fred listed quickly. 'I'm going to a Muggle store to pick up some stuff.'

'Alright, I'll meet you back here in ten minutes,' George replied. He grabbed the first cardboard box he could find and cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. He left to go to their storage area and Fred turned on the spot again.

As soon as he arrived at the store, he naturally gravitated towards the more masculine side of the store. He saw underwear, shoelaces, socks, hair gel, sweatbands, but no spray. Confused he walked over to a muscular man who was analyzing some "Old Spice."

'Excuse me, where can I find…' Fred racked his brains for the name Jo had mentioned. '…mace?'

The man looked as though he was struggling to fight a laugh.

'You're looking in the wrong place entirely, boy. It's over there on the women's side,' the man replied, puffing his chest out.

'Thanks,' Fred replied quickly. _Great, now I've made a fool of myself in front of a Muggle. _He walked over to the side where a few ladies were standing. Trying not to look to suspicious, he picked up about ten bottles of the spray. One particularly good-looking lady looked at him with an eyebrow raised and Fred just smiled back. _Gahh! _ When he walked over to the cashier and quickly paid up, trying to ignore the weird looks the casher was giving him, and left as soon as possible.

As soon as he Apparated back to the flat, he cast a duplicating charm on the bottles and transfigured them to have the Weasley logos on them. He grimaced at the fact that he was practically stealing someone's idea. _Oh well. It'll only take a little while to make a potion of your own._

George met him a minute later, levitating a dozen boxes in front of him.

'Are we ready to go?' he asked Fred. 'I got everything we need, so let's leave quickly.'

'Gee George,' Fred teased. 'You're sure in a rush to go to the festival aren't you?'

'Yeah because An-,' George started. He cut off abruptly and his ears turned red.

'Because what?' Fred prodded.

'Promise you won't tell Mum anything yet?' he whispered fiercely. Fred nodded.

'Okay.'

'You see, Angelina and I might have a thing going, and I really like her…I think I'm going to ask her out officially tonight,' George continued in his whisper.

'I thought Angie was in love with me!' Fred said indignantly.

'What? You're going out with Jo, so stop complaining. Anyways, Ang isn't a toy or something,' George said in an increasingly strangled whisper.

'You know George, I'm starting to think that Mum's got little ears installed in all of our walls,' Fred said loudly. George's ears turned purple.

They Apparated to the festival a couple of minutes later and saw a tent labeled with their store name on it.

'Okay George, you can set up…I have to find Jo. I've been gone longer than she probably expected,' Fred said, wandering away. He ran towards the now deserted Honeydukes tables but there was no Jo. He walked up to the ticket manager.

'Excuse me, sir, but did you see that girl that was with me go someplace?' he asked.

'Eh? Oh, her. She went down to that sissy coffee shop,' the man replied, gesturing to a path leading to Madame Puddifoot's.

'Thanks.' Fred ran down the path to find a small, cramped tent with snogging couples. He remembered taking Angelina on a date there, but the two ended up leaving five minutes later, the Chaser being sick of the exuberant PDA. _That's strange…I never imagined Jo to be the type to like Madame Puddifoot's, _Fred thought. As soon as he walked in, he knew his gut feelings were right. Up against a wall was Jo, clearly struggling with none other than Blaise Zabini. Reaching into his pocket, he came up with the first thing he could find: the bottle.

Raising his arm he pressed down on the button hard and heard the loud _fwoosh_ of the spray directed at the boy. Zabini screamed in pain and Fred grinned to himself. _Mission completed. _

Jo was still against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. _Smart girl. _She opened her eyes and blinked slowly at the scene in front of her. She looked up at Fred and stared blankly for a second before giggling. He was about to wear his hero smile when Jo coughed.

'This is completely backwards! Here you are, spraying some guy with mace and I'm standing here at a loss for words!' Jo said. Fred scratched his head trying to comprehend what Jo was saying. 'Usually either I would spray the guy and walk away confidently _or _my savior would roll up his sleeves, expose his large biceps and give the git a few good punches to the nose.'

'Oh,' Fred said dolefully. He looked down at his fully covered arms. 'I guess I messed up, eh?'

'Well, I've only really seen the whole beating-bad-guy-up routine in films, but it seems to be the thing to do,' Jo said, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

Fred said nothing and pulled the curl that she'd hidden away and let it dangle in front of her face. 'Okay. There, that's better.'

'Oh, and thanks Fred. If you hadn't come, that guy probably would have…Ew, gross,' Jo shuddered. She batted the curl away for a second but gave up when Fred held it out of her reach. 'Fine, be that way.'

**Jo**

Jo was immensely relieved when Fred attacked that boy – Blaise, but she still wished he had used more…manly methods rather than using a woman's defensive weapon. That must have just been her normal feelings, though. She grasped Fred's hand once more and dragged him over to the Honeydukes tables. The ticket man opened the gates to the now-empty table and let them through.

'Let's start with the simple things,' Fred said, guiding her to the table with little squares of chocolate. They made their way through the platters of samples, ranging from pure milk chocolate to dark with flecks of orange zest to a three layer truffle. After finishing the table Jo was experiencing some mild stomach cramps and proceeded to tell Fred so.

'How on earth are we supposed to finish nine more tables like this if we've just been filled to the brim with chocolate?' she asked, bending over slightly with her arms over her stomach.

'That's what this is for,' Fred said pointing to a small tray laden with cups filled with yellow liquid. 'In those cups is a potion that clears your stomach and makes room for more sweets. You'll see a tray like this at the end of every table. Don't drink too much though, otherwise you'll find your appetite will have grown considerably.'

Jo hesitantly took a cup and drank the potion slowly. In an instant the pain in her stomach was gone and she let out a sigh of relief.

'Okay, let's keep going,' she said confidently.

'That's my girl,' Fred said happily and they walked on.

The next four tables had strangely shaped sweets – many of them looked like bugs and animals. Jo reached the next table and recoiled at the sight of the first bowl of sweets.

'Er, what exactly are those?' Jo asked, peering at the beetle shaped candy.

'Ugh, cockroach clusters. I've never been a fan of them,' Fred said wrinkling his nose. 'I doubt you'd like them, but since we paid, we might as well try a little bit.'

They went along, tasting each sweet. Jo shrieked in surprise after eating an Ice Mouse. It chittered in her stomach and she jumped a foot at the sensation before dissolving into peals of laughter. Fred steered her away from the Acid Pops, knowing their painful consequences. Jo's Chocolate Frog jumped away from her before she could catch it so Fred gave her his. They kept walking and tried Fizzing Whizbees, pocketed a couple pieces of Droobles and tried a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Jo was completely full by the time they'd finished and Fred kept laughing every few seconds for no reason.

'Fred, I think you're having a sugar rush,' Jo commented.

'You're probably right, but it's better to have a few minutes of unadulterated happiness rather than to forever be in a state of uneventful soberness,' Fred said lightly with a smile.

'Whoo, the big words are blowing me away,' Jo laughed, pretending to be knocked backwards.

'Hey, I can be mature and smart if I choose to be,' Fred said mock-seriously. 'One of my…brothers…thinks very highly of himself and never misses a chance to show off his so-called talents.'

The two sat down on a bench overlooking a few "magic" shows. Fred put an arm around Jo and she rested her head on his shoulder.

'I had lots of fun today, Fred,' Jo said, looking out at the performance being put on.

'Yeah, me too. Thanks for agreeing to come with me,' Fred said tightening his grip on her.

'Thanks for bringing me,' she said sweetly. She turned her head and put her chin where her head was and looked into his blue eyes. They were such a beautiful shade of blue. He turned and looked back at her. They were mere inches away from each other but Jo didn't notice anything happening until she found herself lost in his gaze. Fred ever so slowly lowered his head towards her. Jo looked down, fluttering her eyelashes. The intensity with which Fred was looking at Jo made a small blush creep over her face and she raised her head back towards him, ready to close their distance. She could feel his baited breath and she was trying not to hold hers in anticipation. Fred moved the hand on her shoulder to behind his neck and his other hand held hers. Jo was sure they were going to kiss when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

'Hey, you two, ready to go do something fun?' George asked, pulling a pretty black girl behind him.

The two pulled away from each other in a split second, turning slightly away from the other surreptitiously. Fred hastily cleared his throat and Jo tucked her strand behind her ear again, blushing even further.

'Yeah,' Fred replied, getting up. He extended his hand to Jo and he helped her up.

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><p><strong>Yep. I did it. Or, I didn't :P You'll see what happens in the next chapter which will be up the day after tomorrow!<strong>

** PLEASE leave your review and tell me what you think! I'll take any constructive criticism or suggestions as well :) **

**Again - if you Alert me, pleaseeeee leave a review~**

**Thanks XD**  
><strong>Until the day after :)<strong>


	11. The Countdown

**I know I said the day after the last update would be this chapter, but guess what? Somebody forgot to mention MIDTERMS! There were, like, two whole weeks of reviewing and long testing and I completely focused on that and had no time to update! My humble apologies! **

**I hope you like this chapter - It's the second half of the previous one, so a nice continuation for those who wanted more :P**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>The Countdown<strong>

**Fred**

They had been so close. So close! And those eyes! Fred was fuming inwardly at his twin's poor timing. In a second he and Jo would've kissed, but of course the perfect moment would be broken awkwardly. Jo grasped his hand and they meandered over to where the crowd was gathering.

'Hi Angelina,' Fred greeted his former classmate.

'Hi Fred!' Angelina replied. 'I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting.' Angelina gestured towards Jo with her free hand, the other one holding George's.

'This is Jo. Jo, this is my old classmate Angelina. She, George and I used to play on the same…Quidditch team. Jo's a Muggle, so if you want to explain what that is, feel free,' Fred added in a low voice to Angelina.

'I thought you would've by now, Fred! Well, I'd love to get to know you, especially if we're going to be seeing each other often,' Angelina said with a friendly smile.

'Yeah, absolutely! Where do want to go?' Jo asked, happily.

Jo grinned at the other girl and they let go of their respective twins to go walk and talk. Fred was happy that they were hitting it off – It would've been extremely awkward if his ex-girlfriend hated Jo. Fred walked along with his twin to the Three Broomsticks that had set up a tent. The combined scent of Firewhiskey and butterbeer made his mouth water. He ordered four of the latter and found a booth with George. The two sat across from each other in silence, each one spaced out and looking in a different direction. After a few minutes of quiet George took it upon himself to be the icebreaker by stating the obvious.

'So…' George began. 'I seem to have interrupted you and Jo in a…delicate moment.'

'You sure did. Some timing you have,' Fred said grumpily.

'I can't believe you two are so close already! You've only known each other since, what, a month ago? And even then, you only started seeing her regularly since Christmas!'

'Well, have you heard the expression "love at first sight"?' Fred retaliated.

'It may have been that for you, but was it for Jo?' George said.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Relax; I'm actually complimenting you on your womanizing skills.'

'How many times do I have to tell you; Jo is something else. She's different! I've never felt this way before about any other girl, and you know how many I've been around.'

'Okay, okay you dove. If she's really that important to you, then you should show her.'

'I was bloody going to until you broke into our moment!'

'Again, relax. I'm sure you'll have plenty of other opportunities in the near future.'

'You bet I will. And they will be George-free moments.'

'I understand what you're trying to say, so no need to get upset.'

'Whatever. So, what's going on with you and Ang?' Fred said curiously.

'I think we can be called an item. I officially asked her out and she said yes,' George said proudly.

'I'm happy for you, mate.'

'Thanks. If you and Jo end up officially dating, then I'll be pretty happy too.'

'Aw, thanks,' Fred said, faking gratitude.

'No, seriously, I will be.'

The two laughed and started discussing how the sales had gone with their store. George said that the sprays were sold out and the Skiving Snackboxes had vanished within ten minutes. The wizards in charge of the countdown celebration had bought nearly the whole stock of fireworks (something about the head of the group being drunk and setting off the ones they were supposed to use on a Muggle farm) and everything else eventually got sold after an hour and a half. Fred told the waiter to bring the drinks after the girls returned when he saw them walking outside.

'Oh, there are the girls. Let's go get them,' Fred said, eager to have Jo's company again.

Angelina and Jo were laughing about something as they walked towards the boys.

'Shall we go find some friends? I heard Lee was around here somewhere and Oliver's come with his team to celebrate last night's win,' Ang said.

'Sure, but after a nice drink of butterbeer,' Fred responded, walking over to Jo.

The four returned to the table where four steaming cups of butterbeer were waiting on the table.

'Ooh, that looks delectable,' Jo said, her eyes wide. Ang laughed and took a sip.

'It's the best drink you'll ever taste!'

'Well, it looks great but it'll be hard for anything to beat a nice bottle of Coke for me,' Jo replied, raising her glass to take a sip. 'Mmm, this is delicious!'

It took no time for them to finish their drinks and head out. Fred hooked his elbow with Jo's and they skipped around like little children before bursting into laughter.

'So who are those people that Angelina mentioned?' Jo asked.

'They're also some of our old friends from school. Lee was in our year and he was the third member of our trio. George, he and I used to be the reason for every form of mischief in the school,' Fred said proudly.

'And Oliver?'

'He was the captain of our Quidditch team. Did Angelina explain how it's played?'

'Yeah, she went on about it for a while; it seems really interesting. She said you and George were Beaters. Couldn't you have gotten concussions from that kind of position?' Jo asked.

'Er…a what?'

'It's a head injury that can be either mild or very dangerous. If you get enough, they add up and can create loads of problems for you.'

'I don't think so. Wizarding medicine is probably a lot more advanced than Muggle because we have the power of magic behind us. Most minor injuries like those can be healed in a matter of hours or less,' Fred said, trying not to sound too boastful. It wasn't like he was even trying to be, he just couldn't help it. I mean, isn't that the truth? That our type of medicine, or anything for that matter, is more developed than Muggles' will ever be?

'Fred! We found both of them!' George called. Standing next to him were two men; one tall and black with dreadlocks and a charming grin, and the other one lean and tall, with short brown hair.

'Oliver! Wow, long time, no see,' Fred said jovially.

'It's great to see you mate! I say, who's this now?' Oliver asked.

'This is my g-…my friend Jo,' he introduced.

'Pleasure to meet you,' the keeper said, flashing a grin at Jo. 'Where did you get her?' he added in a whisper to Fred.

**Jo**

Jo turned pink at the attention she was getting from the good-looking man.

'Nice to meet you too,' Jo replied, trying not to look too…red.

Fred grabbed her around her waist and wheeled her around to meet the other man standing there.

'So, this is your new bird?' he laughed.

'Must you, Lee?' Fred shook his head. 'This is Jo. Jo, Lee Jordan, my man since forever ago.'

Lee bowed with a smile and winked at her.

'So, where are we going?' Jo asked, putting her arm around Fred.

'Anywhere! We can do whatever you want to do,' he replied sweetly. Jo recalled the moment when they'd nearly kissed. Never would she admit it (although she saw no reason to be ashamed of it), but it would've been the first time Jo would've been kissed. The moment had been ideal until George burst into it.

The six had three hours to kill before the fireworks show began at nine. George, Angelina and Oliver were adamant about finding "the pitch" to play a volunteer game of Quidditch, but Fred insisted he stay with Jo in case she didn't want to be left out of the fun.

'Actually, I'd like to watch, if that's alright,' Jo said. 'I really want to learn how to play, but I doubt I'd be able to stay on a broom without magical qualities.'

'I don't know, Jo. You're pretty magical in my opinion,' Fred whispered with a grin. Jo nudged him and giggled. _You really do like him, you know_, the voice said.

_Yeah, I already realized that_, Jo replied.

_Just reconfirming. _

_Thanks. _

'So, can the others and I go play? Lee will get you a really good seat,' Fred promised. Jo nodded and wrapped her sweater tighter around her.

The group made their way to the Quidditch pitch and Fred, George, Angelina and Oliver went to the announcer's booth to join the game. Lee put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the bleachers to watch. A few minutes later the game started with the four players dressed in gear and flying on their brooms. Jo's jaw went slack as she saw the swiftness with which they flew and the stability of the brooms. The game began at the whistle of the referee and the balls were released. Half an hour later, Jo's voice was hoarse from cheering for Fred's team and her face was red from jumping up and down. Lee was sure to give her constant feedback on what was going on in the game, being a commentator himself in the past. Fred's team won by a hundred and sixty points their team's Seeker caught the snitch. To be honest, Jo was only really focusing on the beaters, not being able to see the difference between the two from such a distance. It was only when one of them paused in the middle of the game to look in her direction and smile that she could tell them apart. Fred nearly got hit by a bludger when he stopped and he had lean backwards until he was flat upside down to dodge it. He waved at her from that position and Jo laughed at the gesture although her heart pounded at his proximity to injury. After the players got down to pick up their prize of front row seats for the fireworks, they made their way to a restaurant to eat.

The next two hours passed quickly as everyone caught up and ate. Jo listened mostly until George pestered her into telling them about living as a Muggle. Fred cast him a warning look, but his twin missed it, so Jo forgot about it for the time being.

'…so I generally take walk around, since everything is fairly close to my place,' Jo said.

'What about wires and eclecticity?' George asked. Jo giggled.

'You mean electricity? Well, all the lights in my house are electrically powered and I have a few household things like a microwave and a television that-,' Jo started. She was cut off by Fred exclaiming and making frantic shushing motions.

'What?' Jo asked. Fred rolled his eyes to the side. Everyone at the table did the same and paled slightly. Jo looked at where their gazes were pointed and saw nothing but a harsh looking man wearing black clothes. His gaze swept around the tent and young adults, so Fred kept a hand on Jo's back, forcing her to look down. The man looked somewhat familiar and Jo was about to ask who he was when she was quickly whisked out of the tent by Fred.

'Thank God,' he sighed, wrapping a protective arm over Jo. 'What was he doing here?' he added in a whisper to George and Angelina.

'I dunno. Isn't he wanted or something?' Angelina shuddered.

'Usually he's only seen with that lot,' George whispered.

'Will someone tell me who that is?' Jo said impatiently.

'Remember those people who blew up the village?' George asked. 'He's one of those types of people. The…evil kind.'

'I was trying to warn you not to make it obvious that Jo's a Muggle because wherever you are, there are pure-blood fanatics who believe that any non-magical person is scum,' Fred said in an undertone to George, frowning.

'So that was…hang on…a Death Eater?' Jo asked, biting her lip.

'Sharp one you've got there,' Oliver muttered ducking out of the tent.

'Finally! Where were you?' Fred asked.

'Well someone has to pay the bill, you know,' Oliver said brushing down his robes.

'Thanks Oliver,' Fred, Jo, George, Angelina and Lee chorused. By the time they had finished their meal it had gotten dark. They made their way to the fireworks show where they sat at the front, admiring the decorations hung up around them. Soon enough, the show started. There were oohs and aahs from the crowd when the rockets exploded in the air, bursting into all sorts of shapes and sizes. Many of them were enchanted to fly around the audience and make loud noises. A cartwheel ran into a rocket and there was a loud explosion, the result being five small winged pigs flying around the sky. The people erupted into laughter, lighting Fred's face up.

'These are ours, right George?' Fred said leaning over to see his twin.

'They sure are,' George replied.

'I remember you letting these off last year when that toad was made Headmistress! That was one of the best days of my life,' Angelina said dreamily.

'Oh, don't forget the portable swamp! I still can't believe you two literally escaped from Hogwarts,' Lee said in awe.

'I feel like I've overused this expression today, but what are you talking about?' Jo said, looking apologetic but very curious.

'Well, Ms. Curiosity, as I told you before, George, Lee and I were the pranksters of our school. During our last year of school a toad of a hag took over as Headmistress – a real bitch if you'll excuse my language. So, George and I weren't about to put up with her…nastiness, so we decided to break out of school with a bang. We set off our whole stock of fireworks, like the ones you're watching now, and no one was able to get rid of them. If they tried vanishing some of them they'd multiply by ten,' Fred said, getting warmed up. He continued explaining the escapades he and his dorm mates had until last of the pre-dance fireworks went off.

'Wizards and witches from across all of England, are you ready to show us your moves?' shouted a voice. Jo looked around and saw a wild-looking man with long hair and tattered clothing. The crowd turned to find the source of the noise and erupted in cheers and screams.

'Oh my god! They got the Weird Sisters to perform!' Angelina shrieked, jumping up and down. It was by far the most girly thing that Jo had seen her do since the met. Jo looked more closely at the place where the man was standing and saw instruments set up behind him and three other strange looking men. Even Fred and George looked excited about the performers.

'Are the Weird Sisters all men?' Jo asked.

'Yes, and they're the best band EVER!' Angelina yelled excitedly. The band struck up a fast-paced song and people stood up to gather and dance in the large field where a dozen men were levitating launchers off. Fred grabbed her hand and ran over to get to the front. Jo watched the tens and hundreds of boys and girls around her age jumping around and partying and suddenly felt very shy.

'Come on, it'll be fun! Just to what everybody else is doing,' Fred shouted over the yells and music.

'Okay,' Jo said, willing herself to let go of her inhibitions. The air filled with the sound of people singing along to the music and screaming nonsense. Jo started slowly when someone grabbed her hand and pulled it up, forcing her to jump, otherwise her arm would've been pulled out of her socket. She complied, reaching her other hand into the air. The cold wind rushing from under her gave her a sense of freedom and soon enough she was partying like everyone else. Fred took a look at her and laughed loudly, but not meanly. Jo looked to see who was holding her hand and saw Lee. He winked and let go allowing her to make her way over to Fred.

The dancing went on for the next hour and fifty minutes until the countdown started. Jo and Fred had taken breaks in between every few dances to grab a drink or cool off. Apparently wizard drinking ages were different from…Muggles', so Jo hesitantly took a shot of what had looked like whiskey. As soon as it went down her throat a stinging, fiery sensation burned her throat and she coughed, holding Fred for support.

'Burns a little on the way down, eh? It's called Firewhiskey,' he said, quickly downing his and shaking his head.

There were ten minutes left to the New Year, and Jo was sure the alcohol was getting to her system. They had just finished a dance where everybody changed partners and Jo got a little closer than she had meant to with Oliver. Fred noticed this and quickly pulled her back, holding her a little tighter than before.

'Now it's time to see you really groove,' said the lead singer. A slow, jazzy number was struck up and Fred extended his hand. Jo took it with a small giggle.

Fred put his arms around her waist and Jo put hers around his neck, reaching up a bit considering their height difference. George and Angelina got comfortable a few yards away and soon couples everywhere were swaying to the music. A charmed clock was counting down the time until midnight. There were currently nine minutes and twenty seconds left.

Jo's feet were getting extremely sore so she pulled her shoes off and threw them where the chairs were. Fred smiled at her and Jo laughed freely.

'What? They were hurting me!' she said. They spent the next seven minutes in silence, steadily getting closer to each other. Fred's arms were completely around her holding her close and Jo's arms were wrapped around his neck.

'Do you ever wish you weren't magical?' Jo asked quietly.

'Do you ever wish you were?' Fred asked her with his eyes closed.

'I asked first.' Fred opened his eyes.

'If I couldn't be with you as a wizard, then yes.'

Jo looked down and Fred watched her closely. It was only when he saw a tear fall off her nose that he grabbed her chin and tilted her head up.

'What's the matter?' he asked.

'Nothing…It's just, that's the nicest thing anyone's said to me,' Jo said softly.

'Well if you're going to be around me you're sure to hear lots of nice things,' Fred said with a small smile. Jo blushed and laid her head on his chest. She could feel his heart beating steadily under his sweater. They swayed for another minute when the singer's voice rang through again.

'One minute left!' he yelled. The crowd responded as eagerly and moved to get closer to friends. Fred and Jo continued to dance.

'Hey Jo, you know the New Year is meant for resolutions, right?' Fred asked

'Yeah,' she replied into his shirt. She raised her head to look him in the eyes.

'Well I have a list to share with you, and you can share yours with me.'

'Okay.'

_Fifty seconds._

'I want to learn to be less harsh to people I don't like.'

'I want to stop worrying about things that just pull me down.'

_Forty seconds_.

'I want to keep making people laugh.'

'I want to have more fun.'

_Thirty seconds._

'I want to read a Muggle novel.'

'I want to learn more about magic.'

_Twenty seconds. _

'I want to do what I know is right.'

'I want to let myself go.' Fred looked at Jo.

_Ten seconds. _

'Jo, I really like you,' he said without hesitating. Jo widened her eyes before they softened.

'I like you too, Fred,' she said, cheeks a bit ruddy from the heat and alcohol.

_Five. _

'Any other resolutions?' she asked quietly.

_Four. _

'I always want you by my side,' Fred said.

_Three. _

'Your eyes,' Fred whispered, looking intently into them. 'Jo,' Fred started. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

_Two. _

'May I kiss you?' Fred asked.

_One. _

Jo responded by wrapping her hands tighter around him and pressing her lips to his. Fred let go of her for a second in shock, but after the ground exploded with people yelling "Happy New Year!" he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifter her off the ground. She reached one toe to the ground and found that she was too high up. Fred put one hand in her soft hair and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Jo put her hands on his face and let herself go.

* * *

><p><strong>YAY! I did it! Or...THEY DID IT! How did you like it? It's the first kiss I've ever written, not counting the one from my other drabble fic which has kinda been discontinued for the time being...(sheepish grin) Please give me feedback! You're comments are always welcome and looked forward to :)<strong>

**Next update might not be for a few days - I'm almost done with the next chappie which will (unfortunately) be much shorter and probably back to the 2500-3000 range. **

**Thanks for reading! My alert story is the same as usual - I had three new alert adders who didn't review (*sob*), so please R&R! (You might be mentioned in the next chapter :P)**

**Sammy-U out**


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